Miracles and Shadow Games
by MiraclesVeemon
Summary: Take one Digidestined, add her as the daughter of the King of Games and cousin of Kaiba's son and let's see what you get. Bad summary, sorry. Warning: Gender Bending! I own nothing but my ideas, possbile ocs and gender bent characters. Please enjoy and no flames.
1. Entrance Duel

"Miracles and Shadow Games"

_OK, so let me start off from the beginning._

_That's usually how these things work, right?_

_Heck, I don't know._

_Well anyway, the thing is my name is Daisuke Motomiya, but the truth is that's not my real name._

_It's really Daisuke Moto, as in the daughter of the world renowned King of Games Yugi Moto, but I never told anyone except for my friend and DNA partner Ken Ichijouji._

_I've always been known as the child of Courage, Friendship and Miracles, the leader of the second generation of Digidestinds, the soccer gal, clone of Tai Kamiya and Matt Ishida, or Taichi-sempai and Yamato-sempai to me._

_No one knows that I can also write songs; except for Yamato-sempai but that was because he had stumbled upon one of my note books that I would just scribble some stuff in and found a song I was working on and he taught me how to play the guitar after that, another thing no one knows about, but I don't care since I'm not that great at singing or as good as my blonde sempai on the guitar._

_I basically just let everyone see what's on the outside and only let special people like Ken, Willis or Jaden see what else lies beneath the surface._

_My dad knows all about my affairs in the Digital World and so do Maxmillion Pegasus and he found these old tablets from a ruin in the Digital World when he accidentally stumbled into the world and created a special deck for me made up of these tablets he found._

_They are known as the Legendary Warriors and because I'm a Digidestind I can talk to their spirits._

_I mostly get along with the Warriors of Light, Flame, Darkness, Wind, Thunder and Ice while the Warriors of Water, Metal, Wood and Earth are a little too high maintenance for me to deal with._

_Anyway, I have a childhood friend named Jaden Kaiba, the son of the famous Seto Kaiba, but he goes by Jaden Yuki so he doesn't get any special treatment just like I do and we're both entering the prestige Duel Academy by order of Seto himself._

_Jay's thrilled about it but I'm a little worried since I'm not as good at dueling as my father is or as Jaden._

_In other words; I'M FREAKING THE FREAK OUT HERE!_

_I just hope I'm good enough to pass the written exams and the field test._

_Ra help me otherwise._

A maroon haired girl with tanned skin and dark brown eyes with a touch of red in them dressed in a pair of black leggings, blue convers and an orange spaghetti strap shirt was running out the door to her home, a white and blue duel disk on her arm and a brown leather belt was tied around her waist with a pouch that held her deck of cards in it and also her white D-3 with blue grips and her D-terminal.

"Oh, I am going to be so late!" she groaned wondering why her alarm clock hadn't gone off.

She was lucky that her friend Ken had called her and the ringtone she had chosen for her cell woke her up and she started getting dressed.

"Let me take care of that, then!" V-Mon said as he jumped down from the telephone poles he was running on top of before and landed beside his partner and began running alongside her.

Daisuke looked at him and smiled.

"Right." She said stopping and looked around to make sure no one saw them.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!" she yelled thrusting her device in the air and they were covered in blue light as sparks crackled around them.

"V-Mon armour digivolve too…Raidramon: the Storm of Friendship!"

Dai mounted her dragon and he took off at a great speed, running to the Kaiba Dome where the duels were being held so that she could enter.

Her father and Kaiba were both going to be there to watch the duels and cheer on their own children, but they wouldn't be announcing who their children were because Dai and Jaden wanted to keep it all a secret so no one would treat them special or like dirt just because of their fathers.

Seriously, did you have any idea how many people that they met their age at special events had assumed that they were spoiled, snobby, rich little brats that thought they were better than everyone else just because of who their parents were?

Jaden and Dai didn't think that way at all.

They also didn't think that they were the hottest things around, but they were attractive in their own ways.

Like Jaden had a skinny frame and not much muscles on him, but he had these incredible brown eyes that were filled with innocence, warmth and happiness that just drew you in.

And Dai wasn't really that girly or as pretty as her other female friends

Out of all five of the Digidestinds girls, she was the one who had the smallest breasts, something that Yolei would tease her about and she also had untameable hair that frustrated her to no end when it didn't cooperate, but Dai was happy with her body the way it was.

But if anyone that wasn't her friend said something bad about it, she wouldn't stop herself from getting violent.

She's a girl for pity sake; they don't like getting teased about their lack of assets.

Dai gave a loud, cheerful whoop as Raidramon made a massive jump and took to the air, soaring through the skies, over buildings and jumped over them until they finally made it to the Dome.

Raidramon de-digivolved to Chibimon and jumped up onto his partner's shoulders and she walked over to where the people with the admission sheets were standing waiting on the soon to be students to come and sign in.

"Hey, I'm not too late am I?" Dai asked as she walked up to the man and two women dressed in yellow and looked like they were from the Ra Yellow dorms.

"No not at all." The man said as he gestured to one of the women to hand her a clipboard with a form.

"Just fill this out and head on in, dear." One of the girl's with purple hair said.

"And good luck to you." The brown haired girl said.

Dai smiled as she accepted the form and a pen the man gave to her.

"Thanks." She said and then quickly filled it out with her name, age, date of birth, blood type, health, all that stuff and then she handed them the form before she ran on in and watch some duels take place as she waited for her name to be called.

"Daisuke." She heard someone say.

She turned and saw a man that was only a few inches shorter than her was standing behind her dressed in a pair of black leather boots, black leather pants with some chains on them and a black hoodie that had the hood up shadowing his face.

"What?" Dai asked as Chibimon glared at the man, but soon smiled when he caught the scent.

"It smells like Papa!" the baby dragon said.

"Is that an insult?" the hooded man asked as he pulled the hood back a bit to reveal amethyst eyes and tri colored spiked hair of blonde, black and magenta.

"Hey Dad, what are ya doin' here? I thought you would be with Uncle Seto and Uncle Mokuba in the private booth watching Jaden and me duel." Dai asked her father.

"We are, but I just had to come down here and wish you good luck first. So good luck and don't worry so much about winning. Just do your best and believe in yourself and have faith in the-"

"Heart of the cards." Dai and Chibimon finished for him.

"Dad, I've heard this speech a million times for the past 14 years. I get it, OK? I'll try and do my best and I know that I can trust my deck to help me through this. I just hope that I can be good enough for them." Dai said.

Suddenly, a transparent figure clad in red and black armour with a mane of blonde hair and azure blue eyes appeared next to her and smiled down at her.

"_Don't talk like that, Dai. You can do it, I know you can. We all allowed you to use us because we know you can handle it. You need to relax there, buddy."_ The Warrior of Flame, Agunimon, said with a thumbs up and wink.

Dai smiled at him as did Chibimon since he could also see the digimon Duel Monster spirit.

"One of them is giving you a pep talk, aren't they?" Yugi asked knowingly as he saw his daughter smiling at empty air, but knew that there was a digimon spirit there that he couldn't see for himself.

Dai looked back at her father as the Warrior of Flame faded away.

"It was Agunimon." She said.

"Of course. Good luck…to all of you." Yugi said and kissed his daughter's forehead.

Dai watched as her father walked away and then she turned her attention back to the duels and began to wonder where Jaden was.

The two of them had a bad habit of always being late to certain events, eating a lot and staying thin (how they managed that was a mystery to many people), being competitive but in a friendly way and running off their mouths, being extremely blunt with the words they use, not really stopping to think what will happen.

"**Daisuke Motomiya, please go to exam field 3! Daisuke Motomiya, exam field 3!"** a male voice on the intercom said.

Daisuke took in a breath and let it out as she felt her stomach turn with nerves and then proceeded to the field, Chibimon scampering off to sit up in lights and watch from there.

He had miraculously changed into a blue t-shirt that had Dai's three Crests on them and two pompoms that were orange and blue so he could cheer her on.

Dai walked out onto the field and saw that there were kids that were trying to get into the Academy that were watching her and also some kids who were already students there.

Her opponent was a man dressed in black pants, boots, black shirt under a red Slifer Red jacket and had his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail as he wore a black, red and white checked bandana to keep his bangs out of his face revealing his green eyes and he had on ear pierced with a die earring.

"All right, Dai-chan, let's get this battle on." The man said making her gap at him.

"D-Duke?! You're my opponent?" she asked in surprise that one of her father's old friends, Duke Devlin, creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters, was standing there in front of her ready to duel.

"Yep. I wanted to see what you could do, so I pulled some strings and lo and behold, here I am as your duel proctor. Now remember this; just because I've known you since you were a cute baby girl don't mean that I'll go easy on you." He said.

"If you did, then I'd kill you." She said as she readied her duel disk and put her deck in, feeling the powers of the Legendary Warriors vibrate from her deck.

"Good. Now let's begin!" Duke smirked as he got his duel disk ready.

"Duel!" they said both starting with 4000 Life Points, but they would drop soon.

"All right, I'll go first then." Duke said as he drew a card from his deck and smirked when he chose one.

"I'll play Battle Ox in attack mode." Duke said as he placed the card down and the monster appeared with his ax at the ready ATK 1700 & DEF 1000.

"I think I'll have him attack your Life points now." Duke said and Battle Ox did as he was told, swiping his ax down on the girl making her raise an arm to brace herself as her life points were cut down.

"Next I'll place this lovely card face down and end my turn. Let's see what you can do, Dai-chan." Duke said.

Dai glared at the older male annoyed and then took in a breath to calm herself down.

"Fine, but you asked for it." She said drawing her card and placed it down on the field without even looking at it.

She could already tell who it was just by touching it and felt the bright aura that came off of it.

"Say hello to the Legendary Warrior of Light, Lobomon!"

The silver and blue clad wolf warrior appeared, his stripped scarf blowing around him as light reflected off his armour making everyone gasp and stare in awe at the blonde haired, scarlet eyed Warrior of Light, ATK 3000 & DEF 2200.

"_Oh please. Is this guy out of his mind?"_ Lobomon muttered as he stared at the monster in front of him.

"Lobomon, you have the advantage here, so take him out!" Dai said and Lobomon pulled out his Lobo Kendos and attacked, slicing the Ox twice making the monster explode into dust and then the Warrior of Light back flipped back over to stand in front of his master.

Duke braced himself as the attack took out his Life Points.

"Nicely done." He said.

"That's not all. Because Lobomon is a Legendary Warrior, you also lose 400 of your Life Points because he took out your monster." Dai stated with a smirk as she watched her opponents numbers roll back.

"Yeah, great. You done yet?" he asked.

"Nope. Now I play the magic card Zephyr Sweep that destroys all trap and/or magic cards that you have on the field." She said playing the card.

A storm pinks feathers that were glowing and sparkled swooped over to Duke's side of the field and destroyed his trap card Needle Wall.

"And last I'll place this one face down. Your move, Duke." Dai said.

"Good. Now I'd like to introduce you to my Twilight Dragon." Duke said playing a dragon that looked like a black version of the Blue eyes White Dragon only he had gold eyes too, ATK 2100 & DEF 600.

Lobomon narrowed his eyes and yawned.

"_I'm bored. Let's quickly end this."_ He said to Dai who smirked at him and nodded.

"Go Dai-chan! Go go! Go Lobomon! Go go!" Chibimon cheered as he shook the pompoms and jumped around.

"Dude, you're boring me." Dai said making some people in the stands gasp in shock and the Obelisk students that were watching started talking about what kind of nerve she had to treat the great Duke Devlin that way.

"She's confident." A blonde haired Obelisk Blue girl said as a teal haired Obelisk Blue male stood beside her, watching the maroon haired girl with his steel colored eyes.

"Maybe this will keep you awake. I also add on the magic card Dragon Booster and it gives my twilight Dragon an upgrade." Duke said as his dragon grew a bit in size and his ATK points went up to 3100.

"Twilight Dragon, take out Lobomon!" Duke commanded and the dragon breathed gold flames at the Warrior of Light.

"So much for your puppy." Duke said.

"Actually, I'm happy that you took out Lobomon." Dai said with a smile which shocked everyone.

"What?" Duke asked confused.

"Because it activated my magic card, Harmony of the Warriors and it allows me to summon another Legendary Warrior. Say hello to the brother of Lobomon, Lowemon: Legendary Warrior of Darkness!" Dai said.

A man dressed in black and gold lion armour appeared holding a lance and shield that looked like a head from a sphinx ATK 3000 & DEF 1000.

"_Nice to be a part of the fight."_ Lowemon said his scarlet eyes sparkling in determination.

"And guess what? With every dark monster on the field, including your dragon, his ATK points go up by one hundred. But that's not all, next I'll play the magic card Slide Evolution to make him transform into his Beast Spirit, JaggerLowemon!" Dai said and everyone watched as Lowemon was covered in blue data strips.

"Lowemon Slide Evolution: JaggerLowemon!" ATK 4100 & DEF 1100.

The large lion crouched down on all fours and then reared back his head to let out a mighty roar that made everyone jump out of their seats.

"That daughter of yours has some potential." Seto Kaiba said with a smirk as he looked at Yugi from the private booth they were watching the duel from.

"That she does." Yugi said with a fond smile.

"Yikes." Duke said as he stared at the large black and gold lion.

"JaggerLowemon, take out his dragon and the rest of his life points!" Dai said and the lion glowed red as the beams of light blasted out of him as he pounced on the dragon, destroying it and did double damage to Duke's Life Points until they reached 0. **(I suck at math and was never so sure on how they did the subtraction when the life Points were taken out so sorry if it ended too soon or wasn't right. I'm not good with making up duels here. I did my best.)**

Duke coughed as the dust cleared and smiled over to the girl with pride as he imagined her father was doing the same.

"Awesome job, buddy." Dai said smiling to her lion friend.

"_My pleasure."_ JaggerLowemon growled pleased that his friend was happy.

Duke laughed in good humor as the lion disappeared and he then walked over to the maroon haired girl holding out his hand to her.

"Your father will be proud of you. Congratulations, Dai-chan. You are officially a student of Duel Academy." The black haired male said as he shook hands with the girl who was beaming.

"Thanks, Duke." She said and then walked out of the arena and was then tackled into a hug by Chibimon and a brown haired male dressed in black.

"You were awesome out there, Dai!" the male said.

"Thanks, Jay." Dai said when she saw that Jaden had finally made it to the Dome.

"Why were you so late, Jay?" Chibimon asked since the boy knew all about digimon.

"I kinda slept in late." He said with a cute smile.

A yellow fox with blue eyes hopped up onto his head and gave him a disapproving look.

"You wouldn't have been late if you had gone to bed early like I had told you to do." Vixiemon scolded her partner.

One day when Dai had brought Jaden to the Digital World with her, he had found an armour digi egg and he was able to lift it, gaining a white D-3 with purple grips and a fox digimon named Renamon appeared claiming to be his partner and that the digi egg he had was the digi egg of Darkness, which made her armour digivolve to Reppamon.

Seto wasn't too thrilled that his son was involved with strange monsters from another world, but he knew that he would just have to learn to accept it even if he wasn't happy about it.

The fox did take good care of his son and protects him with her life, so he accepted her soon after.

"Oh well, I'm here now and ready to duel." Jaden said with an eager flame burning in his chocolate brown eyes.

"Kick some butt, Jay." Dai said with a wink and he returned it as they clasped hands.

Dai walked off and went to go watch her friend's duel feeling proud of herself for not letting her monsters down.

"_See? I told ya there was nothing to worry about."_ Agunimon said appearing beside her and she smiled at him.

"Yeah, there was nothing to worry about." She said and then sat down near some boys named Bastion Misawa and Syrus Trusedale who were watching Jaden's duel.

The duel ended with Jaden wining and the two Digidestinds met up with their fathers to go celebrate, but Seto wasn't happy about the fact that his son and niece were both placed in Slifer Red when he knew that they were stronger and would be best in Obelisk Blue or Ra Yellow, but Jaden assured him that it was fine and that they would still take the school by storm.

Jaden and Dai sat down on the bench that was outside of an ice cream pallor sharing their sundaes with Vixiemon and Chibimon.

Yugi and Seto had left to go call their wives, Josephine 'Jo' Wheeler Moto and Serenity Wheeler Kaiba and tell them how their children's duels had gone.

"I can't wait to get to the academy and check out all of those other duellists. It's gonna be sweet!" Jaden said as he fed his fox a strawberry that she happily nibbled on.

"I hope it goes great. I mean, you remember the stories about the Shadow Games, right? What if we somehow get dragged into them too?" Dai asked as Chibimon ate the banana.

"Oh, come on. The Millennium Items aren't even around anymore. There's no way that we'll be in danger of having our souls sealed away in the Shadow Realm for all of eternity." The brunette said with a laugh.

Dai gave him a look, but smiled and shook her head at him.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." She said.

"There's always a first for everything." Agunimon teased making Jaden give him a clueless smile.

"A first time for what?" he asked making the Warrior of Flame face fault as Vixiemon, Dai and Chibimon laugh.

**I have no idea if I should make this into a series, I was thinking of doing that at first, but then changed my mind. But if you guys want it to become more than just a one shot, then I'll start working on it. I hope you guys liked it. thanks for reading and please review.**


	2. Warriors

_So I guess you guys might want to know how I can even see and speak with the Legendary Warriors, right?_

_Well, what happed was after Ken, me and the rest of the Digidestinds beat Diaboramon, my parents brought me to visit Pegasus and I heard these voices calling out to me, well, not to me specifically, but I was the only one who could hear them._

_I followed the voices and found myself in Pegasus' room and there was a box wide opened on the desk and it had this deck of brand new Duel Monster cards inside of it._

_I heard the voices growing louder as I got closer and then I just reached out and touched the top card, feeling warmth spread up my arm._

_I then felt my body felt lighter than air as darkness consumed me, but it wasn't scary at all._

_Then there were these digimon standing in front of me, there were 10 in all and only two were female._

"_Uh, hi?" I said unsure of what was going on here._

"_Hello there, suga. Is there a reason ya called us?" the water nymph looking digimon asked._

"_What are you talkin' about? I never called you. I just heard you guys talking and I walked into the room and touched the cards and…this happened." I said confused._

"_Puny girl no understand what she be done." The lawn gnome with a huge nose said pointing at me._

"_She's gotta learn though, riiiiggghhht?" this robot looking guy said with some Jersey accent._

"_I have to learn what? I think I should know why a bunch of digimon are here!" I said getting annoyed._

_My outburst made them all look at me in surprise._

"_It would seem the child knows about the existence of our kind." This freaky dude that had mirrors all over his body said._

"_How do you know about digimon?" this cute little polar bear asked._

"_I'm a Digidestined. I have a digimon partner named V-Mon. Now can you guys please me what's going on here?" I asked placing my hands on my hips or lack of hips._

_The digimon all shared looks and nodded._

"_We are the Legendary Warriors. We were once well known in the Digital World for the time we had saved it from destruction at the beginning of its time, but we seem to have faded into the back ground." The guy in black and gold lion shaped armour said._

"_The guy with the long white hair and obsession for cartoons stumbled the Digital World and found our ruins." The one dressed in black, white and red said with a mane of blonde hair and horns that reminded me of Greymon._

"_We were waiting for someone to come find us and be our partner, help free us and teach us about what the new world has become, but we were placed on the bleak side of the canvas." Mirror Dude said._

"_He turned us into cards for a silly children's game. How insultin'!" Nymph Girl pouted._

"_It's not just a card game. You see, Duel Monsters was played over thousands of years ago in Egypt by magicians and such, only it was a lot more dangerous and it was involved with people losing their souls and being sent to the Shadow Realm. It's more tamed and innocent now though." I said as they all looked at me, absorbing this information._

"_Well, anyway, back on topic, we were wrong when we thought he was the one that we were waiting for." This large blue and yellow beetle with green eyes said._

"_You were the one who could hear us and you're already involved in the matters of the Digital World. It makes perfect sense that you were the one we were waiting for." This pretty fairy with long violet hair, a lavender body suit made out of armour that would give my dad a heart attack if I ever wore something like it and she had green marking on her face as a white metal band hid her eyes._

"_Me? Are you sure about this?" I asked._

"_You were the one who found us. When you touched Agunimon's card, you awakened us." This guy dressed in blue and silver wolf armour said._

"_Please let help us. We want to be able to see the world again and help others out as best we can." The bear begged._

_I looked at them all, seeing that they were being sincere and cursed myself for being so easily won over by them all._

"_OK, I'll do it." I sighed making Fairy Girl, Nymph girl, Beetle Boy and Beary cheer._

"_Then we shall begin the preparations." Mirror dude said._

"_What are ya talking about now?" I asked._

"_We gottta share a bond, riiiggghhhttt? We will give ya our blessin' so that we can work with ya." Robo Dude said._

"_Riigghht. How does this work?" I asked._

_The Dino Dude walked up first smiling at me as he glowed red as a large dino/phoenix looking hybrid appeared behind him._

"_I'm Agunimon: the Human Spirit of the Legendary Warrior of Flame." He said._

"_And I'm BurningGreymon: the Beast Spirit of Flame." The hybrid said._

_They both then walked right through me, as if they were just holograms, but I felt them go through, leaving my body to set on fire, making me groan and yell in pain at the feeling as the scalding hot flames consumed me for what felt like an eternity, but was really only a second._

_It soon passed like it had never even happened and my body was covered in a red light._

_Wolf Boy came up next and he was glowing blue as a large metal wolf that was white with gold markings appeared behind him._

"_I'm Lobomon: the Human Spirit of the Warrior of Light." Wolf Boy said._

"_I am KendoGarurumon: the Beast of Light." The metal wolf growled._

_They both passed through me too, my body glowed blue as I felt warmth, it wasn't as hot as the Warrior Flame, but it still hurt as it spread through every part of me._

_Again it was soon over and Beary stepped up next as he glowed yellow and a large beast that was white and brown with lots of muscles and big black horns appeared behind him._

_Just a question, but how can something that looked so fierce look cute at the same time?_

"_My name's Kumamon: the Human Spirit of the Warrior of Ice." Beary said with a chuckle._

"_And I'm KorIkkakumon: the Beast of Ice."_

_They both passed through me too, my body glowing yellow as I yelped at the sharp pain that froze my body and turned it numb._

_Fairy Girl came next glowing dark pink and a pretty woman with hawk wings, a black scarf, lavender body suit that covered more, revealed her pretty blue eyes and covered her mouth and had blue pixie styled hair and two small blue wings on her head._

"_My name is Kazemon: the Human Spirit of the Warrior of Wind." Fairy Girl said._

"_My name is Zephyrmon: the Beast of Winds and what might your name be?" the hawk winged woman asked._

"_Daisuke Moto, but you can call me Dai." I said with a smile._

_The two nodded as they walked through me and I felt like a powerful gale had erupted inside of my body as it also glowed dark pink._

_Beetle Boy walked up glowing dark green with a large tank like version of himself with a cannon on his head appeared behind him._

"_My name's Beetlemon: the Human Spirit of the Warrior of Thunder." Beetle Boy said._

"_And I'm MetalKabuterimon: Beast of Thunder."_

_They both went through me and I yelled I was electrocuted by the lightning as my body glowed dark green._

_The gnome came after glowing orange with a larger, uglier version of himself with a bigger nose and spikes, he looked like he was made of rock the color of dirt._

"_You call me Grumblemon: Human Spirit of Warrior of Earth." Gnomie said._

"_Me be Gigasmon: Beast of Earth."_

_They both then went through me and I groaned as my body felt this immense amount of pressure being applied to every part of me as I glowed orange._

_Nymph Girl glowed turquoise as a woman that had a squid on her head and looked like her bottom half was being eaten by a humongous squid appeared behind her._

"_Hi there, suga. I'm Ranamon: the Human Spirit of the Warrior of Water." Nymph Girl said._

"_And I'm Calmaramon: the Beast Spirit of Water."_

_The two then walked through me and I gasped as I felt cold water soak, as if someone had just flung me into the deeper darkest part of the ocean, but as soon as the two were gone, I was bone dry as I glowed turquoise too._

_Robo Dude walked over glowing copper with a large lizard looking creature made out of wood and leaves standing behind him._

"_Hey there, little missy. I'm Arbormon, all right, the Human Spirit of the Warrior of Wood." Robo Dude said._

"_An' I'm Petaldramon: the Beast of Wood, got it?"_

_The two walked through me and I groaned a bit in discomfort at the feeling of leaves and tree bark pressing against my skin as I glowed copper._

_Mirror Dude walked over as he glowed silver and this huge…green thing that looked like a building made out of green orbs that were connected by yellow metal strips and the middle orb had red lips on it and it really freaked me out._

"_My young Lady Daisuke, I am Mercurymon: the Human Spirit of the Warrior of Metal." Mirror Dude said with a gentlemanly bow._

"_And I, dear Lady, am Sakkakumon: the Beast Spirit of the Warrior of Metal." The orb thing said and it freaked me out that it…he…could talk._

_They walked through me and I felt hot all over and heavy as if my bones were turned into metal and it was painful as my body glowed silver._

_Finally, Lion Dude walked over to me glowing violet as a large black metal lion with gold markings appeared behind him, both looking very nervous._

"_I am Lowemon and this is JaggerLowemon." Lion Dude said._

"_We are the Human and Beast Spirits of the Warrior of…Darkness." JaggerLowemon said nervously._

_I felt my eyes widened comically as my jaw dropped open stunned at what I had just heard them say to me._

_Darkness?!_

_(Now all of you keep in mind that this was a few months before Jaden came with me to the Digital World and he was found out to be the child of Darkness.)_

_These two were the Spirits of Darkness?_

"_A-are you guys serious?" I asked._

"_It's true." Lobomon said making me glance back at him and the others._

"_Light and Darkness are brothers. You cannot have one without the other." KendoGarurumon growled._

_I looked into the red eyes of the two Spirits of Darkness and I couldn't see any evil in them or the intent to kill and do whatever they wanted for pleasure like the other evil digimon I had met._

_What I saw was anxiety and the want to be accepted, fear of being shunned just because of his power and that pulled at my heart._

_I raised my arms up and smiled at him._

"_Are we doing this or what?" I said._

_Lowemon and JaggerLowemon both looked surprised and relieved at the acceptance as the other Warriors all sighed in relief behind me._

_The two lions walked through me and I gasped as I felt cold as the darkness enveloped me, but it wasn't frightening like Ken and Kari had always made the darkness sound like._

_Maybe that was because I was being shown the true face of darkness and it had a heart of gold._

_After it was all done, I had passed out and woke up to find myself lying on Pegasus' bed with my parents and the Cartoon Maniac there with me, asking what had happened and I told them that I had heard the cards of the Legendary Warriors call out to me._

_Mom and Dad were shocked as they had also discovered that the mark of each Warrior was now on my back, but Pegasus smiled and handed me over the deck, making me swear to take good care of them since he knew that they were meant to be mine._

_I promised and soon enough when we got back to Domino I called Ken and told him what had happened and Jaden came over, excited to hear that I had my own deck and he helped me learn how to duel with them._

_Every card I touched, I could sense who it was without even looking and they would appear before me in transparent form that only Digidestinds and other digimon could see._

_And that is the tale of how I first met the Legendary Warriors._

"I can't believe this is the last time we're going to see each other." Ken Ichijouji said as he walked to the Kaiba Dome with Daisuke Moto to see her off as she got on the helicopter that would bring her to Duel Island where the Academy was located.

"Not the very last time. We'll see each other again soon enough." Dai said with a smile to her best friend.

Ken returned it and held her hand as they walked like they usually did and no, it wasn't because they were a couple it was because they were close.

"So what dorm are you in anyway?" he asked his friend.

"Dude, I'm wearing the dorm uniform right now." Dai said.

She was wearing a red jacket with white on it, black boots, a red skirt and black tank top.

Her deck, duel disk, digivice and D-terminal were all in the bags that she had with her and Chibimon was on top of her head while Minomon was on Ken's shoulder.

"So it would be…Slifer Red I believe?" Ken asked.

Dai nodded her head as they neared the Dome.

"I'm really going to miss you. Things are going to be a little boring without you around." The plum haired boy said with a sad smile.

Dai threw an arm around his shoulders to give him a hug and smiled at him.

"Hey, you still have TK, Yolei, Kari and Cody to keep you company. Everything'll be fine, Ken. Don't worry so much. I'll be back for holidays and your birthday if I can manage it." She said.

"I hope so. It would great if you could." Minomon said.

The two Digidestinds and their digimon hugged each other one last time before the girl boarded the helicopter and sat beside her friend Jaden, who was also in Slifer Red and this guy with blue hair that she had seen at the entrance exams.

"Hey Jay." She greeted as she sat next to him and saw that Vixiemon was asleep on his lap.

"Bout time, Dai. Syrus, I'd like ya to meet my cousin, Daisuke Motomiya. Dai, this is Syrus Trusedale." The dual haired brunette said with his usual happy smile as he introduced his old childhood friend and his new dorm mate/friend.

Syrus had a shy look on his face as he looked at the girl and nodded to her in greeting.

"It's n-nice to meet cha, Daisuke." He said making the girl chuckle at him.

"Call me Dai, all my friends do." She said with a wink.

Syrus blushed brightly at the gesture and her words, feeling very lucky and awkward that two people had easily accepted him as their friend.

He wasn't used to anyone being that nice to him, not even his own brother was that kind.

The three sat together and talked during most of the flight, but soon enough the cousins fell asleep, using the blue haired boy as a pillow since he was sitting between them.

When the announcement that they were now nearing the academy was made, Syrus shook the two awake, only for Dai to wrap her arms around him and hug him to her small, but still very noticeable breasts, making his entire face burn red as Jaden yawned loudly.

"Are we there yet?" he asked and looked over to see his new friend was being smothered by his sleeping cousin.

"H-help!" Syrus yelped quietly as he was unable to break the girl's strong grip.

Vixiemon and Chibimon were both giggling at the sight, as were the Warriors as they all watched the scene.

"_Dai-chaaaannnn!"_ Kazemon sang making the girl groan in her sleep as she nuzzled her face into Syrus' blue hair that could rival Tai's hair in height and mass.

"_It's time ta wake up now, suga."_ Ranamon giggled.

That didn't make her do anything at all.

"_Agunimon set the helicopter on fire."_ Lobomon said.

"WHAT?!" the girl yelled as she shot up and accidentally threw Syrus to the floor.

The Warrior of Flame sent the Warrior of Light a look.

"_Did ya really have to tell her that?"_ he asked his best friend as the other students on board gave the girl confused and annoyed looks as she looked around the helicopter, that was larger than an average one, making sure that it wasn't on fire and Jaden laughed.

"_Yes I did."_ Lobomon said with a smirk.

"_It's not really that surprising that she would believe you."_ Beetlemon said.

"_Excuse me?"_ Agunimon scoffed.

"_Thou art a fool. You have set fire to the stove once before."_ Mercurymon said.

Dai sighed as she sat back down in her seat ignoring her arguing Warriors as she, Jaden, Syrus, Vixiemon and Chibimon all looked out of the window and saw the island with the large buildings below them.

"Aw, how sweet is that?" Jaden said with a look of pure awe.

He may be the founder of the school's son, but he had never really seen the island before with his own two eyes and he was really looking forward to landing so that he could explore, just like he knew Dai was.

"_Ah, they have a beach! How wonderful. I'll get to swim and enjoy myself."_ Ranamon gushed.

Chibimon and Vixiemon were both looking forward to racing each other as Reppamon and Raidramon in the forest that was behind the school.

Dai looked at the place amazed and found her gaze sweeping over to the lighthouse that was overlooking the beach.

She focused her eyes as she saw a male figure that was dressed in blue and white standing at the base.

"_Ohhh, he's cute."_ Kazemon said as she noticed the male that her master was staring at.

"_What? How can see him?"_ Grummblemon asked confused as he scratched his head.

"_I manipulated the winds to give me a better look at his face and he is cute. Better looking than Matt."_ The Warrior of Wind said.

"_I agree with ya there." _Ranamon said as she used her water powers to be able to see his reflection.

"No one's cuter than Yamato-sempai." Dai said with a pout in defense to her sempai.

"_Believe me, he is."_ Kazemon said with a teasing smile as the Warrior of Water giggled like a maniac making the male Warriors and Chibimon inch away from her in fear.

"_Are all girls crazy?"_ Agunimon asked.

The two female Warriors, Dai and Vixiemon turned to look at him with glares that could freeze molten lava and the dino took cover behind the yin yang twins.

"You never learn." Jaden laughed at the Warrior of Flame's distress and said leader of the Warriors glared at everyone that was laughing at him.

Syrus had his silver eyes on Dai and Jaden giving his new friends curious looks, wondering who they were talking to.

**All right, to the pleas of suntan140, DigitalMG and pat, I have decided to continue this story. This chapter is dedicated to you three, so I hope you and everyone else likes this new series. Oh and as for the pairings, I have no idea what to do with that. Should Dai be with one of the Digi boys or GX boys? I'm really not sure so feedback would be great. Please review.**


	3. Welcome to Duel Academy

Dai was very close to falling asleep during the assembly that was being held to welcome the new students and Jaden actually was sleeping, right on his cousin's lap as Viximon and Chibimon sat on both of the child of Miracles' shoulders.

Syrus had to keep poking the girl to keep her awake, but she only got small bits of the conversation that the man named Sheppard said.

After it was finally over, the trio walked out with their new PDAs and sat down on a stone statue, looking them over and Dai was mostly enjoying the scenery around her.

"Well, I don't know about you, Sy, but it looks like I'm in the Slifer Red dorm." Jaden said making Dai turn to her cousin.

"That's cool. Same with me." Syrus said.

"Hey, you in red too?" Jaden asked a black haired boy dressed in a yellow jacket who was walking by them.

"Well, now, let's see here. Yellow sleeves, yellow buttons. I don't think so." The black haired boy said with a grin and he also seemed to have an accent.

"Oh, I get it. So that's why Sy, Dai and I are in red." Jaden said as he checked his jacket.

"Please don't tell me that you just figured that out now." The Ra Yellow student said.

"So what? Ever think I'm color blind?" Jaden asked with a fake angered, yet still sort of cute look making Dai and their partners' chuckle silently.

"Well, no. Actually, I didn't. Are you color blind?" the Ra Yellow asked.

"No, but I could been." The child of Darkness said with a laugh.

"By the way, this is my cousin Daisuke Motomiya. Dai, this is Bastion Misawa." Jaden said with a smile as he introduced them.

"Pleasure." Bastion said with a nod to the mahogany haired girl before he walked away.

"Yeah." She said.

"See ya around the dorms." The child of Darkness said with a wave.

"I doubt that. Your dorm's over there." Bastion said as he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to where the Slifer Red dorm was located.

The trio dressed in red ran off to the yellow house that had a red roof that was close to the ocean and had a great view.

"_Ah, I love this!"_ Ranamon cheered as she jumped into the water, splashing Chibimon.

"Hey!" he sputtered.

"Dai, aren't cha coming in to take a look?" Jaden asked with Viximon sitting on his head.

"Nah, I'll check it out later. I just wanna stay out here for a bit." The child of Miracles said.

"Sure." The dual brunette nodded as he and Syrus went into their room to check it out.

As soon as they were gone Chibimon then digivolved into V-Mon and he stretched.

"Do ya think we can go check out the forest?" he asked.

"You just wanna go racing." Dai said smiling down at him and he chuckled.

"Can we?" he asked.

"_It'll be great exercise for all of us too."_ Lowemon said as the Warriors all appeared behind him.

"_I'm fine just where I am."_ Ranamon said as she basked in the sunlight with a pair of black sunglasses covering her eyes.

"_Lazy."_ Kazemon teased.

"_C'mon, buuuuddy. Ya know you wanna."_ Agunimon said to the child of Miracles.

Dai thought about it, looking around to make sure that no one was watching and then looked down at her dragon with a smile.

She pulled her D-3 off of her belt making him smile and bounce in excitement.

"Let's go. DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!" she cried as sparks crackled around them.

"V-Mon armour digivolve too…Raidramon: the Storm of Friendship!"

Dai mounted her dragon as all of the Warriors evolved into their Beast forms and they then took off into the forest, the young girl cheering as the wind blew her untamed hair out of her face.

The smell of the trees and wild flowers entered her nose as the warm air swirled around her as she rode Raidramon, smiling as she threw both of her arms into the air, her legs holding onto the dragon's sides as he ran at medium speed.

The Beasts with wings or who were able to levitate flew above her as the others ran alongside her, enjoying the freedom as much as Raidramon was.

They kept going until the sun began to set and they had half of the forest mapped out so that they could do this again, only with Jaden and Viximon too.

Dai walked into her dorm room and saw that she had a private room that only had one bed and her bags were already put there by her cousin.

The room was a little smaller than the one she had at home and had one window that had a great view of the ocean, one bed, a closet and a lone dresser and she even had a private bathroom that had a small shower that could barely fit her in there if she stood up.

Chibimon then sniffed out food and led her to the mess hall which was very small and she noticed that she was the only female member of the Slifer dorm.

"Hey, Dai." A small mop of blue said making the girl look over at him and walk over with Chibimon in her arms.

"Hey, Sy. So how was your day?" she asked making some of the guys in the room look over at her wondering why she was in their dorm.

After all, the only dorm that had girls was The Obelisks, which seemed very unfair.

After all, how were you supposed to know if they were any good if they were just placed in Obelisk despite their skills or lack or and their grades?

Over all, it was stupid.

"Hey, Dai, why do you and Jay have those strange creatures?" the blue haired boy asked.

"Oh, you mean Vixi and Chibi? They're our pets. The Chancellor let us have them here with us. They're very special to us." The girl said with a smile as she hugged her blue dragon to her chest.

"Meep!" he said with a cute grin with a fish poking out of his lips.

Seto and Yugi had had a talk with Sheppard and told him the truth about the digimon and the old man believed them since he had seen a battle between digimon in the real world once before and understood that the fathers just wanted their children to be safe, so he allowed the digimon to be at the school under the ruse of pets.

After all, he let one of his teachers have a pet, so why not the students?

"So you have a lizard and Jaden has a fox? Why?" Syrus asked.

"That's just how it is. Vixi prefers Jaden and Chibi prefers me. They chose us." Dai said as she dug into her food since Jaden had already finished his second plate.

"This is our fancy welcome dinner?" one male student asked as they saw the food.

"Never mind that. Check out our head master. It's a cat!" another said as a cat that was light brown with darker brown stripes yawned.

A few seconds later, a man with long black hair and glasses stepped out of the room behind the cat with a kind smile on his face.

"Hello children. I'm Professor Banner. Now before we eat, I'd like you each to tell something about you-"

"Hey, this stuff's good!" Jaden said making everyone look back at him and Dai as they both were eating with their digimon.

"Jaden, Daisuke, we're supposed to say something about ourselves." Syrus said.

"OK, how 'bout this? I'm starving." The child of Darkness said as he ate one of his fish.

"I second that." Dai said.

"He's walking over here, guys." Syrus warned.

"I mean it; he's right-"Syrus cut off when Banner was standing right in front of their table.

Jaden and Dai both tensed up since they always got off on the wrong foot with teachers, whether they meant to or not.

They were expecting the worse when he stood before them with a smile on his face.

"Well, since some of us don't feel like waiting…let's just eat." Banner said.

The other Slifers all cheered and dug in and the cousins high fived each other.

"Yay! We don't have a stuck up teacher. I love this place already!" Dai and Jaden both said making Banner chuckle.

Later that night, Dai was on her bed typing out a message to Ken, telling him all about her first day so far as V-Mon was out of the roof sparring with Renamon.

The fox was a very athletic digimon and liked to do anything active so V-Mon would often do things with her since he was very hyper and was up for just about anything.

The Slifer girl was interrupted by her cousin barging into her room.

"Hey, I was just challenged to a duel. Let's go!" he said and then ran back out, Syrus close behind him.

Dai gave them a curious look before she ran out after them.

The yellow fox and blue dragon stopped their sparring when they saw their partners running somewhere and they followed them.

"What do you think they are doing?" Renamon asked as they kept to the shadows.

"We'll see soon enough." V-Mon said.

The Slifer trio made it to the Obelisk dueling arena and walked in, looking for whoever it was that called Jaden.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea, guys." Syrus said nervously.

"Good or bad, when someone challenges you to a duel, you gotta step up. There's no choice." Jaden said making the bluenette groan.

"Uncle Set will kill us if he finds out we snuck outta of dorms in the middle of the night to do this." Dai said using her Uncle Seto Kaiba's nickname.

The three saw that three Obelisk Blue males were standing at the other side of the room, one with black hair, one with brown and the last with violet and he wore glasses.

"Well, well, well. He shows." The black haired male said with a sadistic grin that made Dai have flashbacks of the Digimon Emperor.

"You better believe it. There's no way I was gonna miss this." Jaden said with a smirk of his own as he walked forward, Dai at his side.

"Wait up!" Syrus said chasing after the cousins.

"Time to find out of you beating Dr. Crowler was a fluke or a fact." The black haired male said.

"Yeah, well, we're gonna find out something else too." The child of Darkness said as the two digimon appeared in their In-Training forms and sat on their partner's heads.

"Like, which one of the two of us is really gonna become the next King of Games." Jaden said.

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you have yur best card ready to hand over when you lose." The black haired guy said.

"You too. Now game on." Jaden said.

"Go Jay!" Dai cheered making the Obelisk males look at her.

"Hey, wait. Isn't that the girl who beat Duke Devlin?" the Obelisk brunette asked pointing at Dai.

"Yeah, what of it?" she asked as Syrus half hid behind her.

"What's she doing in Slifer Red?" the purple hired guy asked.

"Maybe she's not as good of a duellist as she seems either." The brunette said making the Slifer girl give them an icy glare, holding herself back from killing them.

"HEY!" she yelled making them jump.

"At least we got in because of our skill. I bet you Obelisk brats got in because of your trust funds. That's pathetic, relying on money to get you what cha want." She said making the three Obelisks glare at her as Syrus gripped her arm and hid behind her.

"What'd you say, Slifer Scum?" the brunette asked.

"Did I stutter?" she asked with a challenging tone.

"Daisuke, please don't start a fight." The smallest Slifer begged.

"Jay, kick his worthless carcass into the next millennium!" Dai said to her cousin.

The Slifers and Obelisks all watched as the duel went on and every time Jaden's monster was destroyed, Viximon would hiss at the black haired boy, now identified as Chazz.

A girl named Alexis Rhodes also came by and she looked at Dai in interest since she remembered watching her duel against Duke Devlin too.

Jaden was gaining the upper hand in the end, but the duel was cut short when a campus security guard came around and Alexis said that this duel was prohibited and could lead to immediate expulsion if they were caught, so they all bailed.

Chazz thought that he had won, but what he didn't know was that if Jaden had been able to play his card that round, he would have been able to bring back his Flame Wingman and destroy Chazz's monster and win the duel.

"You do know that if our parents find out about this, we'll be grounded, right?" Dai asked Jaden as they walked back to their dorm.

"Dad would understand. My pride was being questioned. He would have done the same thing." Jaden said.

"Well, for your sake, I hope your parents are both very understanding." Syrus said as they walked.

"My parents would freak out if I did something like that."

"Yeah, well I've done far worse things that my parents probably wouldn't mind that much. Believe me." The child of Miracles said as they finally made it to the dorm.

"I'll see you two in the morning." Dai said waving the two boys off.

"Night Dai." Jaden said waving too.

"Sweet dreams." Syrus said.

"Kyuu!" Viximon said.

"Meep!" Chibimon said as he waved his paw.

Dai walked into her room and dropped Chibimon on her bed.

"I really don't like that Chazz guy. He'sh a creep." The dragon said as he pulled a sleeping mask onto his eyes so that he didn't see Dai as she undressed and could still speak with her.

"I agree. He makes the Digimon Emperor seem like an OK guy." The female Slifer said as she pulled off her uniform and changed into a pair of black pajama shorts with lightning bolts on them and a white long sleeves shirt that was very baggy and slid off of her left shoulder.

She turned the light off and Chibimon took off his mask knowing that the click signaled she was dressed and he wouldn't be getting a beating for peeping.

Dai never used to care when she was younger and they even used to bathe together, but that was before puberty hit.

"Bed time. I've got classes tomorrow." Dai groaned as she lay down in her bed and pulled the covers up to her waist as she hugged Chibimon to her.

The two soon fell asleep with smiles on their faces as they dreamed of nothing but fun.

Lobomon appeared and shook his head at the sight before he pulled the blanket up over the Digidestined and her digimon so that they were indeed warm.

TBC

**All right, so here is the next chapter. I hope you guys don't mind, but I won't really be writing the duels that go on, unless I decide Daisuke will be a part of them, but that's a big if. I'm not good at dueling or making up duels, so if they suck, I'm very sorry. Hope you guys liked it, please review.**


	4. Memories and Letters

Dai was in class sitting between Jaden and Syrus and she was bored out of her mind.

Their teacher was Dr. Crowler, the man Jaden had beaten in a duel to get into the school and the one Dai had dubbed as Creepy Cross-dressing Crowler since he had long blonde hair, earrings and purple lipstick.

The mahogany haired girl was soon lost in thought as she pulled out a card from her deck, remembering how she had gotten it in the first place.

"_Do you really have to go to Duel Academy?" Ken asked me._

_I was at his house to spend some time with him and to let Chibimon and Minomon spend some time together before school started up and we had to go to the Academy._

_I was originally going to leave Chibimon with Ken, but then Jaden decided to bring Viximon with him and I didn't want her to be lonely, so it was decided that Chibimon would be coming too._

_I looked over at Ken and away from the TV screen as the movie played._

"_Ken, we already went over this. Jaden and I agreed that we would go to Duel Academy together ever since we were 5." I said and I saw the sadness in his eyes._

_I hated it whenever he was upset, so I moved to sit behind him since we were on the floor and wrapped my arms around his neck, resting my head on top of his._

"_Look, I love you, you know that and I would never abandon you, but this is important. I've been training for this for years. But I am going to miss you. More than anything." I said sincerely._

_I couldn't see it, but I knew that Ken was smiling as he lifted his hands up to hold onto my arms that were around his neck in a comforting embrace._

_With my chest pressed against his back, I could feel our hearts beating as one and that helped sooth as both._

"_I know and understand that. I just wish I could spend more time with you." Ken said._

"_Hey!" I said as a though came and I pulled away, but still had my hands on his shoulders._

_My plum haired best friend and DNA partner looked up at me, curiosity in those pretty blue eyes that I loved._

_OK, look, we say that we love each a lot and that we have things about each other we love, but it doesn't mean we're a couple._

_If you ask me what I love about Ken, it would be his kind heart, his pretty blue eyes and the way how he doesn't flaunt his intelligence._

_If you asked Ken what he loved about me, and this was actually asked during a dare, he had said that he loved my fiery personality, courage and friendly brown eyes._

_Of course, he was a stuttering mess when he said this, but it was still the nicest thing anyone had ever said about me._

"_What is it, Dai-kun?" he asked._

"_Ken-chan, what if you learn how to duel? Next year, you can take the entrance exams and you could go to the Academy with me and Jay." I said bouncing in excitement._

"_It's Jay and I." he corrected._

"_Ken-chaaaaan!" I whined tapping his cheek with a pout._

_He laughed at me as he stood up and went into his room, leaving me on the floor as Minomon and Chibimon ate up all of the popcorn._

_He came back out a minute later with a tin box in his hands and sat back down on the floor beside me._

"_What's in the box?" I asked._

"_You'll see." He said with a smile as he lifted off the lid and revealed his very own deck filled with Duel Monsters._

"_Jaden's been secretly teaching me how to duel and build my own deck so that I could get into the Academy someday." He said._

"_Really? That's awesome!" I cheered._

_Ken smiled as he picked up his deck and started going through his cards, looking for one in specific and once he found it, he pulled it out and set it aside, face down, and then placed the rest of his deck into his box._

"_I'm an average duellist at least, but I want to become strong enough that I can become a student next year. Until that time comes, I want you to have this card." He said as he handed the card over to me._

_I gasped and looked into his eyes, seeing that he was being serious._

"_Ken." I said as I took the offered card._

"_Hold onto it until we meet again when I'm a student of Duel Academy." He said._

_I smiled at him and nodded._

"_I promise." I said as I flipped the card over to see what the card was that he wanted me to keep for him._

Dai was brought out of her memory when she heard Alexis talking, answering a question that Crowler had asked and he was looking very proud as she answered it correctly.

"Perrrfect. Well done, Alexis. Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from one of my Blue Obelisks." Crolwer said making Dai gag.

"Yes, Dr. Crowler." Alexis said and sat back down.

"Hm. Now who should we question next? You! Syrus Trusedale." Crowler said making the bluenette stand up with a yelp.

"Explain to the class what a field spell is." The blond haired man said with a cruel gleam in his eyes that made the child of Miracles clench her fist, trying to stop herself from cursing at the creep.

"Um a field spell is, um, uh, it's a thing that effects the thing that is uh…" Syrus stuttered feeling very nervous with all of the eyes that were on him.

"Even pre-duellists know the answer to this, Slifer Slacker!" an Obelisk Blue male called from the back row, making the class laugh as Dai looked back, meeting the eyes of the boy who made the comment.

She gave him a dark look and he cowered down in his seat as he swore he saw flames and sparks dancing in her eyes, trying to escape so that they would fry him.

"No, I know. It's a, uh…" Syrus said trying to think of how to get the words out with a blush on his face.

"What Syrus is trying to say is a Field Spell is a card that is played that set's the field to give a monster an extra advantage, boosting its attack power. An example would be the Skyscraper card that Jaden used in his duel against you to boost Flame Wingman's attack power." Dai said coming to the rescue of her mop top friend.

Everyone was staring at in shock that she had actually said that to Crowler as Jaden and Alexis both smiled, trying not to laugh at Crowler's angered expression.

"Well, that's one way of putting it. Thank you, Miss Motomiya." Crowler ground out as he bit into his hanky.

"You're welcome!" the girl chirped making the Slifers and Ras laugh.

That class ened and soon the trio were in Banner's class, who was by far their favorite teacher of all time.

He was kind and he actually made their lessons interesting and he let the digimon into his class room.

"So class, my name is Professor Lyman Banner. I specialize in the lesser known tactics and strategies in the word of Duel monsters. Some that a few might even consider to be unnatural. Duel alchemy hold…" Banner went on as Jaden yawned and Viximon gave him a scolding look knowing that it was his own fault for being up so late.

"Hey, by the way, thanks, Daisuke." Syrus said with a smile.

"Sure, no problem." Dai said catching Jaden's attention.

"For what?" the sleep child of Darkness asked.

"Sticking up for me." Syrus said a bit loudly and Jaden woke up a bit more when he saw that Banner had stopped talking and was frowning over at the trio.

"Uh oh. I'm thinking she might have to do it again in a second." The SLifer male said as he sat up properly.

"Syrus!" Banner said making the boy jump up in fright.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Do me a favour and grab Pharaoh, would you?" the teacher asked.

"Uh, Pharaoh?" Syrus asked as Chibimon started giggling.

Dai covered his mouth wondering what had made him act that way.

"Unless you are minoring as a scratch post." Banner joked making everyone look down to see that the cat was rubbing against the bluenette's leg and they all laughed in good nature.

Gym class soon came around and Syrus was late getting to it, but came out later on with a strange look in his eyes.

After class, Dai went to her locker to get changed and was surprised to find a letter was there.

"What the-?" she asked as she picked it up and looked it over, seeing that her name was on the front.

"Hey, Renamon?" the girl asked making the fox appear with V-Mon.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Did you see who placed this here?" Dai asked showing the two digimon the letter.

"I'm afraid not." The fox said shaking her head.

"We were out sparring. What is that anyway?" the dragon asked.

"I'm not sure. I'll open it later." Dai said with a shrug as Renamon wrapped her arms around V-Mon and they disappeared.

The girl sighed as she set the letter aside and changed into her uniform, then left to go back to her dorm and see what the letter was all about.

Once she was in the safety of her room, the Warriors all came out since they were just as curious about the letter.

"_Well, go on and open it."_ Beetlemon said.

"_Me want see. Hurry!"_ Grumblemon complained.

"_Chill out, guys. Let her open it herself."_ Kumamon said.

Dai tore the envelop open and took out the letter that was inside.

"My dear Daisuke, from the moment I saw you, I've been….IN LOVE WITH YOU?!" she yelled in shock at the words.

"_AAAHHH! How cute!"_ Kazemon and Ranamon cooed as the male Warriors and V-Mon were in a state of shock.

"_Our little Dai-chan has her first secret admirer. Oh, this I such a special occasion!"_ the Warrior of Water said.

"_What?! No, no, NO! I don't think so. She is far too young to have a secret admirer. I_ _refuse to allow this!"_ Agunimon ranted as flames danced around him.

"_She's the perfect age for it. You need to stop treating her like a child."_ Kazemon scolded her mate.

"_Who is the human that sent our Lady Daisuke this letter?"_ Mercurymon asked.

"Whoever it is isn't worth it to be Dai's boyfriend." V-Mon said with a frown as he crossed his arms.

Dai shook her head at the way her partner and Warriors all took an interest in her love life and she was touched by how protective they all were.

"It says here that it's from…Zane Trusedale? I wonder who that is." She said.

"_So are you going to meet with this guy?"_ Arbourmon asked.

"_I don't think you should."_ Lowemon said making everyone look at him.

"_What do you mean, Lowemon?"_ Lobomon asked his brother.

"_Can't you smell it? This note has the scent of that cross-dressing man on it."_ the Warrior of Darkness said as he took the note.

"Why would Crowler send me a fake love note?" Dai asked.

"_Obviously this Zane guy must be the hottest guy at this here Academy."_ Ranamon said.

"_He must think Miracle child be like other girls and go goo goo over letter from cute boy."_ Grumblemon said.

"_The letter says to meet after curfew at the Obelisk boy's dorms."_ Lowemon said.

"_Can't you get expelled for going there after hours?"_ Agunimon asked.

"Do you think Jay got a fake love letter too?" Dai asked.

"Renamon woulda smelt it out and warn him, so he's fine." V-Mon said.

"_That's true."_ Kazemon nodded.

"Well, I guess I won't need that thing. Agunimon, could ya do the honors?" the child of Miracles asked.

"_With pleasure."_ The Warrior of Flame said as the window was opened and the note that was crumpled into a ball was thrown out of the window.

"_Pyro Darts!"_ Agunimon cried blasting the note, burning it into ash.

"Now we can get on with our lives." The girl said.

"Oh, Dai-chan. Can play a prank on Creepy Crowler, pleeeaaassse?" V-Mon begged with those adorable red eyes of his.

"_Me too, me too, me too!"_ Grumblemon begged eagerly.

Dai tapped her chin in thought, but soon enough a smirk was curving her lips.

"Have at it, boys." She said.

The two males digimon cheered and high fived before they set off to get to work.

"_Ya know that was a bad idea, riiiggghhht?"_ Arbourmon asked, but he was laughing on the inside.

"I could care less. He's been on my hate list the second I met him." Dai said.

"_Lady Daisuke, you truly are devious."_ Mercurymon said with a grin.

"You bet." She said proudly making the other Warriors laugh.

Meanwhile, as Crowler was hiding in the bushes by the men's dorm, waiting for Daisuke to show up to 'Meet with Zane', he was then hit in the face with mud and shoved right into the girl's locker room, making the girls that were inside all scream and hit him with whatever they had with them.

As he yelled and tried to run out, he didn't see the shower that was still wet and slipped on the water, slamming into the wall.

A dragon and gnome spent the rest of that night laughing at the bruises that the creeper had gotten.

TBC

**Here is the next chapter that I decided to get out early. Sorry it doesn't follow the episode that much, but I'm doing things from Dai and the Warriors' point of view.** **Hope you liked it and please review.**


	5. The Exam part 1

_It's been a few weeks since Jaden, Syrus and I started at Duel Academy and I was finally introduced to their roommate Chumley Huffington, who was a total sourpuss._

_Turns out, Jaden did a love not that was said to be from Alexis, but since he was using Syrus' locker, Sy was the one who found it and thought it was his and snuck out to the dorm._

_Alexis and her friends Mindy and Jasmine found him and told him the note was fake and decided to call Jay over so Lexi could duel him anyway to test him out and he won._

_I hardly found that surprising at all, after all Jay is the son of the second best duellist in the entire world._

_Me, I'm the daughter of the first and third best duellists in the entire world, but I really don't care too much about that._

_Getting back to the current topic at hand, Duel Academy is having a very important time, one that pins all the students against each other and gives the Ras and Slifers a chance to move up and succeed._

_What is this terrifying, yet necessary life changing experience called, you may ask?_

_One word is needed._

_Exams._

"LAAAAAAAAATTTTTTEEEEE!" the shrill yell of the only female Slifer rang out over the entire island, making half of the occupants jump in surprise as they looked around in confusion, wondering what creature could have made that noise.

"I am so LATE! Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Dai asked as she ran out of her bathroom, wet from her shower with a towel around her body as she got her uniform ready and tried to brush her hair at the same time.

"_We tried, but ya were deep asleep."_ Ranamon said as she set an apple and blueberry muffin down on the desk for Dai to eat for breakfast.

Kazemon watched her master as she tried to multitask and shook her head and she flew over and took the brush from the child of Miracles' hands.

"_Hold still, I'll take care of this."_ She said as she brushed the damp mahogany hair and used her winds to blow warm air to dry it.

Chibimon was still sleeping since he was used to his partner making noise in the morning as she rushed around to get ready.

"_Don't worry so much about the written exams. If you fail those, then at least you'll make up for it with the field exam."_ Ranamon said as she got the brown belt that held all of Dai's equipment that she had for every day.

Her pouch that held her deck, her D-3, her D-terminal and her PDA that was regulation by the school.

"Yeah, I'm freaking over the field exams too. I don't wanna let you guys down." The female Slifer said as the Warrior of Wind had her hair dried and brushed, then tied up into a high ponytail that was very short since her hair barely grazed past her shoulders and her bangs were brushed to the side and held back by a pink and turquoise barrette.

"_You won't."_ Ranamon said as the girl then changed into her uniform, finishing it off by placing on the teardrop shaped black gemstone that had the eye of Horus on it that used to belong to her mother.

Jo had given it to her daughter when she was first going off to kindergarten and was scared of being around new people.

"_Now go on, get to class so you don't_ _miss the exam."_ Kazemon said as she handed the apple and muffin to the girl.

"But what about Chibimon?" Dai asked.

Ranamon turned to the little dragon as their master started eating her muffin.

The Warrior of Water raised her hand up and summoned a storm cloud and let it sail over to where Chibimon was.

"_Drainin' Rain!"_ she cried as cold water drops began to pour down on the dragon.

Chibimon jumped up, yelping.

"COLD! COLD! COLD!" he cried as he jumped into his partner's arms.

"_There we are. Now let's get goin'."_ Ranamon said with a smile.

Dai laughed as her two female Warriors disappeared and she then took off out of her room, running to her class to take her exam.

While she was running, she spotted Jaden, who was also running late, had stopped to help an old woman with her cart, Renamon watching over him from a nearby tree.

The duo of Miracles smiled at the kindness displayed by the child of Darkness (oh, the irony) and then went back to running down the trail to get to class.

She got to class and saw that everyone was already writing up their exams and Syrus was sleeping.

"Ah, Daisuke. There you are." Banner said cheerfully when he saw the girl.

"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Banner. My alarm's not working." She said as she walked over with a nervous smile and scratched the back of her neck.

"It's fine. Please, take your test sheet and begin." Banner said as he handed her the sheet as Pharaoh yawned.

"Thanks." Dai said as she accepted the paper and then went to her desk beside Syrus, deciding to let him rest.

He did stay up all night long and he was muttering answers in his sleep.

Banner was also a great guy, so he would give him extra time to finish it.

A few more minutes had gone by and Syrus was still muttering things in his sleep when Jaden finally came into the room.

"I didn't realise this was an oral exam." He joked making the bluenette wake up.

"You made it!" Syrus exclaimed happily.

"Of course. I planned on making it." Jaden said with a wink.

"Would you three be quiet?!" someone snapped from behind Dai, Syrus and Jaden, making the three turn around to see Chazz glaring at them.

"Some of us are planning on passing this test." He said.

"Hey we always planned on passing, but it doesn't always work out that way." Jaden said good naturally with that same smile he always had.

"Jaden, you might want to come down here and get your exam." Banner said with a smile himself and the child of Darkness ran over to get his paper from the cat loving professor before he ran back over to his seat with his cousin and roommate.

After a while of working on the exam sheets, the Slifer trio soon fell asleep, too tired to finish.

Alexis and Bastion watched the three sleep, worried about how they were going to pass, while a certain creepy cross dresser was very smug as he peeked in on the peaceful Slifers.

Chibimon and Viximon both made it into the room, the fox being very annoyed that her partner had fallen asleep as the dragon held in his chuckles.

The bell rang, signaling that class was over and so was the exam, the students all rushing out of class to prepare their decks for the field exams.

Bastion calmly walked over to the desks where the Slifer trio was snoozing away, the dragon and fox already there watching their partners.

"You three might want to give some serious thought to waking up." Bastion said shaking the three of them, the bluenette shooting up in his seat as the cousins both yawned.

"I failed, didn't I?" Syrus moaned sadly as tears fell down his face.

"Hey Bastion. Oh, Vix, there ya are." Jaden said when he saw his Ra friend and digimon in front of him, her blue eyes boring into him in disappointment.

"'Sup guys?" Dai drawled as she picked up Chibimon, bringing him close to her face, rubbing her nose against his and he giggled, tail wagging.

"Hey where is everyone?" Syrus asked when he saw that they were the only ones left in the room.

"That's what I was trying to tell you, everyone's over at the Card Shack to get their hands on new rare cards." Bastion explained.

"What? How come nobody woke us up?!" Syrus yelled.

"Because everyone wants the best cards for themselves to use in the upcoming field test." Bastion explained.

"So then how come you're not there?" Jaden asked.

"Please, one errant card and my deck's fragile balance would be completely thrown-off." Bastion said.

"Mine wouldn't!" Syrus screeched out. "So let's go." Jaden said picking up his fox and ran out the door, eager to go check out the new cards.

"See ya, Bastion!" the child of Miracles called as she ran out after her cousin.

"Wait up!" Syrus yelled running after the two students he viewed as his older brother and sister figures.

The trio ran out to where the Card Shack was located, unsure of what to expect when they got there, but when they saw that no one was there except for the person working the counter, they knew something was wrong.

"You don't think…?" Dai trailed off.

"They couldn't have…" Jaden trailed off.

"RUN OUT OF CARDS ALREADY?!" the two Slifer males cried out.

The two Digidestineds and their friend ran over to the counter, catching the attention of the young woman working there.

"Excuse me, miss? Do you still have some cards left?" Jaden asked.

The girl looked at them and tried not to go crazy over the adorable creatures that were sitting on two of the Slifer Red students' heads.

"Of course we do only regular packs though." The cashier girl said as she slid a single pack.

"We said some, not one!" The three of them groaned.

"Awww, man! First I sleep through my written exam now I'm going to fail the field exam!" Syrus panicked.

"Take the last pack Syrus." Jaden said.

"You sure?" Syrus asked the two.

"Go crazy." Dai said with a smile.

"Just take it, Sy." Jaden encouraged.

"Big Bro, Big Sis." The bluenette moaned all teary eyed at their kindness.

"Big Sis?" Dai asked puzzled at the nickname she had been given.

"Yoo hoo! Auto club." A woman called looking over to Jaden.

She had dark brown hair, wore glasses, was on the pudgy side, had a pink shirt and blue overalls.

"Hey, it's you." Jaden said with a smile to the woman.

"Kyu!" Viximon cooed happily at the sight of the woman her partner had helped out.

"Do you work here too?" the child of Darkness asked.

"No I own here, cool huh?" The elderly woman said.

"That is sooo cool" Jaden said impressed.

"You know her?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, we helped her out on the way to Banner's class." Jaden explained gesturing to his fox and himself.

"Now I know we said, we're officially out of cards, but I did hide away a few for polite young students like you, and please call me Dorothy." The woman said handing over a card to Jaden.

"I hope you put them to good use." Ms. Dorothy said.

"Thanks, Ms. Dorothy." Jaden said as he accepted the card.

The woman smiled, then looked over to the other two students, noticing that the female had the same brown eyes and skin tone as Jaden, wondering if they were related.

"And who are these two?" she asked.

"Meep!" Chibimon said pouting that he was being acknowledged and the woman laughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant these three." Ms. Dorothy said and the dragon smiled in satisfaction.

"This is Syrus Trusedale, my roommate, Daisuke Motomiya, my cousin and this little guy is Chibi." Jaden introduced them.

"I-Its' nice to meet cha, ma'am." Syrus said.

"Hiya!" Dai greeted with a sweet smile and Chibimon also had it.

"C'mon, let's get to the gym. It was nice meeting you, Ms. Dorothy." Jaden said to the woman as he and the two other Slifers ran off to get ready for their field tests, excited about what would be happening.

"_I'm really freaking over this exam." I said to Ken over video chat._

"_Don't worry so much over it, Dai. I've seen you and Jaden duel before. You two are amazing." My DNA partner and best friend assured._

"_I just want to prove that I'm as good as my parents." I told him feeling very conflicted about the exams._

"_Who are you and what have you done with my Dai-kun?" he asked frowning slightly._

_I groaned and covered my eyes before he could give me that kicked puppy look._

"_Please don't give me that. I'm really stressed out here." I whined._

_Minomon and Chibimon were keeping quiet as they watched Ken and I talk._

"_Dai, you are the most courageous and strongest person I have ever met. I know you can do this. Just have faith and believe in yourself." Ken said._

_I moved my hands from my face and gave him a smile._

"_I love you and you are the most awesome person ever, Ken-chan." I said making him chuckle._

"_I love you too. Do your best and kick some butt over there for both of us." He said._

"_Tell us if you see any other digimon and Digidestineds there, too." Minomon spoke up._

"_Right." Chibimon chirped._

"Hello kids." Dr. Crowler said from behind Jaden, Syrus and Dai in the bleachers making the stidents turn to him as Chibimon and Viximon both glared at him.

"Hey teach." Jaden said.

"What's up?" Dai asked.

"Oh nothing, except for the fact that I prepared two special opponents for the two of you to duel." Dr. Crowler said.

"Really?" Jaden asked excitement in his tone.

"Who are they?" Dai asked curiously.

"Now, now don't want to ruin the surprise now do we?" Dr. Crowler said.

"I hope you both managed to get some rare cards to strengthen your decks." He said making the two digimon growl at him.

"_Jaden Yuki, please report to field test 2."_ The male on the speakers said.

"Awesome, looks like I'm up first." Jaden cheered.

"Kick some butt, Jay." Dai said as she took Viximon from her cousin.

"Good luck, Big Bro." Syrus said.

Jaden walked down to the floor and was surprised to see that Chazz was down there too, acting as his opponent.

"Huh? Chazz is my duel opponent?" Jaden asked in shock.

"Well of course." Dr. Crowler said walking toward the area where Chazz and Jaden were standing.

"A Duellist of your skills needs a stronger opponent than that of the Slifer Red Dorm can offer. Do you accept?" the cross dresser asked with a smirk.

"That's a stupid question." Viximon huffed making the duo of Miracles smile.

"I accept!" Jaden said.

Everyone in the gym was shocked beyond belief, except for the only other Digidestined and the two digimon in the building who were smiling and cheering on Jaden.

"Alright this time we're going to finish what we started in the Obelisk Arena, and no excuses this time Chazz." Jaden said.

"Bring it on Slifer Slacker!" Chazz sneered.

The duel was intense and tough, getting everyone on the edge of their seats as they watched it.

It ended with Jaden was the winner, Dai jumping up out of her seat, running over to her cousin with and hugged him.

"You were awesome! Aunt Ren and Uncle Set are gonna be so psyched that cha beat that Princeton brat." Dai said as her cousin spun her around in a hug, both laughing.

Jaden set his cousin down as Viximon jumped into his arms.

"I'm proud of you." The fox said cuddling up to him.

Crowler, who was fuming, came up to the cousins with a forced smile.

"Well, now that Jaden is done, Ms. Motomiya, would you care to accept your duel?" he asked the girl.

"Oh, yeah." She said.

"Wonderful. Mr. Washington, please come out." Crowler said and everyone watched as a handsome blonde haired boy walked over dressed in a Ra Yellow jacket that was opened with a white under shirt, jeans and brown boots.

At his side was a tadpole creature that was green and orange.

Dai and Chibimon's jaws dropped open at the sight of the American as he walked over smiling at them.

"Michael?!" the girl asked.

"Betamon!" Chibimon cried tackling the digimon in a hug, the two giggling.

"Hello Daisuke, fancy seeing you here." The blonde said.

The girl laughed as she rushed over and hugged her fellow Digidestined, Crowler's jaw dropping at the fact that they knew each other and were under good terms.

"I can't believe you go here. This is awesome." The child of Miracles said.

"Yes it is. I can't wait to see you in battle." Michael said as he pulled away from the younger girl.

"Well, to quote my dear cousin, get your game on." Dai said with a challenging look making the blonde chuckle at her.

"Let's go." He said.

The two walked off to their sides of the arena as Jaden scooped up the three digimon up into his arms and walked back up to the bleachers.

"Who's that guy?" Syrus asked as his friend sat down next to him.

"That's Michael Washington; he's an old friend of Dai's. He lives in New York with some of her other friends. Oh, and this is Beta." Jaden said.

"Ribit." Betamon croaked.

"That's one big frog." Syrus said as he turned back to the duel that was about to go on.

TBC


	6. The Exam part 2

**This duel might suck, but I tried. Hope you all like it. By the way, whoever guesses what the name of the deck Michael uses gets the next chapter dedicated to them. I'm pretty sure it's easy to figure out though. Enjoy and review please.**

_Michael is a good friend of mine._

_When I lived a year in New York for a student exchange program, he was there for the summer and helped me out to get used to the city and people there._

_Mimi and Willis helped me out too, but my fellow Golden Radiance keeper made a bet with me that I sadly lost._

_To make a long story short, I was forced to try out for the cheerleading squad and to everyone's surprise, I made it on._

_Willis wouldn't stop bothering me about it, but Michael was really cool about it, getting Willis to calm down with the teasing or else I would have killed him._

_Michael never told me or anyone else that he was interested in Duel Monsters and I find it really awesome that the two of us were now going to duel against each other, him a senior and me a freshmen._

_This is so cool!_

_I can't wait to tell Ken all about this._

"I guess I'll start us off here." Michael said as he drew a card.

"I play Atlantean Pikeman in ATK mode." The blonde said.

A fish creature with a fierce looking pike appeared, ATK: 1400, DEF: 0.

"Next I'll place this card face down. You go next, Dai." Michael said with a smile.

Dai nodded as she checked the cards in her hand, thinking over which card to play.

Sadly, Ranamon wasn't in her hand at the moment, but she would have to make due without her for now.

"I play Kumamon: Warrior of Ice in ATK mode and set one card face down." She said.

The most adorable of all Warriors appeared in front of her with a wide smile and gave a victory sign, ATK: 1900, DEF: 1234.

The two Digidestineds duelling each other had to cover their ears as the female students in the room started squealing over Kumamon, the smallest of the Warriors blushing and rubbing the back of his head.

"You just had to use the bear." Michael said in amusement.

"I really didn't think the girls would act like that. Yikes." Dai said as she shook her head.

"_Yeah, but I'm cute, right?"_ Kumamon asked.

"I don't think there needs to be a debate for that." Michael said.

"Right. Kumamon, use Blizzard Blaster!" the child of Miracles called.

The Warrior of Ice pulled out a large green bazooka that was attacked to the green backpack he wore and chuckled as he began firing off rounds of snowballs at the Pikeman, freezing him in place.

Kumamon then dived at the frozen fish creature and shattered him, Michael covering his head to block out the ice shards as his life points dropped thanks to the special effect of the Legendary Warriors.

"Your turn." Dai said as Kumamon returned to his side of the field.

"I see you're just as good as your cousin. I hope you don't mind, but I think that baby bear could use some parental supervision. That's why I summon Mother Grizzly!" Michael said.

A large dark blue furred bear appeared, snarling, ATK: 1400, DEF: 1000.

"_Good thing she's not my momma."_ Kumamon said.

"I hope Dai will be OK down there." Syrus said in worry for his older sister figure.

"Aw, come on. Dai's strong. One thing you need to learn about her, she never gives up. Even if things seem hopeless, she never gives up without a fight." Jaden said as he had his gaze focused on his cousin.

Chibimon, Viximon and Betamon were both watching the duel in interest, silently cheering for who they wanted to win.

Dai looked down at her deck and nodded as she decided to reveal her face down card.

"I activate my face down. Slide Evolution!" she said making the crowd gasp.

"Hey, wasn't that the card she used to make one of her other Warriors transform?" Syrus asked.

"Yep. Each Warrior can go up a level more to become stronger." Jaden said keeping his voice low so no one else heard.

"_Kumamon: Slide Evolution!"_ the little bear said as blue lights covered him, making him grow and his voice became deeper.

"_KorIkkakumon!"_

The new large Beast stood in front of the Mother Grizzly, frost wafting off of his form, ATK: 3100, DEF: 1700.

"Alright KorIkkakumon, time to put this bear in her cave for hibernation." Dai said.

KorIkkamon then lifted his two large battle axes and threw them at the mother Grizzly, hitting her dead on, making her exploded and Michael braced himself for more damage to his Life Points.

Michael: 3200

Dai: 4000

"Well, thank you for that. By you destroying my Grizzly, it allows me to summon another monster to my field. And I choose Reese the Ice Mistress." The blonde said.

He played a woman dressed in blue and gold with blue face paint and pink hair holding a staff, ATK: 800, DEF: 800.

Dai bit her bottom lips in frustration.

She couldn't destroy the card with a level 4 or higher monster, so she couldn't do anything with KorIkkakumon.

"I'll end my turn here. You seem to be stuck for the moment." Michael said.

Dai sighed as she looked at her Beast sadly.

"Sorry, buddy. But I'm gonna have to send you to the Graveyard." She said making the entire crowd gasp, while Crowler and Chazz smirked, thinking she was giving up now.

The girl braced herself as her Beast went to the Graveyard, 1000 of her life points being taken away from her by making the sacrifice.

Michael: 3200

Dai: 3000

"What is she doing?! Is she giving up?" Syrus asked in a panic as Chibimon hopped up onto his head.

Jaden kept quiet as he watched his cousin.

Michael gave the girl he had known for nearly five years now a calculating look, wondering what she was up to.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"When I sacrifice one of my Warriors or Beasts, it allows me to pull out a Magic Card from anywhere in my deck." Dai said calmly as she sensed for a certain card and smiled in victory as she found it.

"This is Mini Flame. It lets me call out another monster. Meet Flamon, the son of Agunimon!" she said.

A creature that looked half boy and half creature appeared, blinking his green eyes adorably at everyone, ATK: 800, DEF: 2340.

The girls cooed over yet the second adorable monster that the Slifer Red girl had summoned.

"I'll end my turn here." Dai said.

"So that was her plan." Bastion said as he moved down to sit with Jaden and Syrus, the two Slifers looking at the Ra Yellow student.

"What was it?" Syrus asked.

"She made that sacrifice so that she could summon a monster that would be able to defeat Michael's Ice Mistress." Bastion said.

"Sorry to do this, Dai, but…Reese, destroy Flamon!" Michael said making the Ice Mistress twirl her wand, then unleashed a barrage of ice crystals at the small creature, destroying him and making Dai's Life Points drop again.

Michael: 3200

Dai: 2950

"Next I'll bring out Deep Sea Diva, which allows me to summon another card that is Level 3 or less from my deck to the field." Michael said.

A female pink creature that looked a humanoid angel fish appeared first, ATK: 200, DEF: 400.

"Here's another Atlantean Pikeman. Hope you don't mind." The blonde said as the fish creature appeared.

Dai kept quiet and nodded her head making her friends worry about her.

"Daisuke, are you all right? I hope I haven't done anything to upset you." The blonde said knowing Willis and Mimi would kill him if he had destroyed the fire inside the girl.

"I'm OK." She said.

"If it makes you feel any better, it's your turn." He said to her.

The girl nodded as she drew a new card from her deck and then placed it down.

"I place a card face down and end my turn." She said making everyone puzzle over this.

"Is she really giving up?" Syrus asked.

Jaden kept almost as deadly silent and serious as his cousin, making Bastion and Alexis, who joined them; look at the child of Darkness in curiosity.

Did he know what the girl was planning?

Michael was confused, looking up in the crowd to meet Betamon's eyes, both unsure what was wrong with the child of Miracles.

The blonde set his blue eyes on the girl, trying to read her motive, but wasn't able to read her as well as Ken and Willis were able to.

"I play my face down card now. A Legendary Ocean. This spell allow all of my monster gain 200 ATK and DEF points. With this, I'll let them all attack you at once." He said.

Dai closed her eyes and stood her ground as she was attacked by each of the monsters, Chibimon wincing with tears in his eyes as he wished he was down there with his human as she took on the attacks alone.

Michael: 3200

Dai: 2450

After the dust settled, Dai laughed making everyone look at her in shock.

"What is this?" Bastion asked.

"How can she just this all off? She's going to lose." Alexis said.

Jaden laughed too, making the Obelisk Blue girl, Ra Yellow male and other Slifer Red boy to look at the child of Darkness as his yellow fox hopped up onto his head.

"Don't count her out so fast. That's how you lose against her." Jaden said with a wink, his chocolate brown eyes twinkling in amusement.

"You should have destroyed my face down, but that was a big mistake." Dai said.

"What are you-"Michael trailed off as he figured out that she had a plan.

"My face down was really a magic card that allows me to bring any one of the 10 Legendary Warriors from my deck, hand or Graveyard onto the field. And guess who it is." Dai said as a turquoise light emitted from her deck, a card slipping free from the middle and flew into her hand.

"This duel is pretty much done." Jaden said as he leaned over with Betamon in his lap, the aquatic digimon curious about what he meant.

"I summon Ranamon: the Warrior of Water and Queen of the Ocean!" the child of Miracles called.

Water rushed around the floor on her side of the field, surging up and then dispersed to reveal the water nymph standing there winking with a finger to her chin with a cutesy manor, ATK 2400, DEF 1499.

"_Hi yall!"_ she said.

"What could she be doing now?" Bastion asked.

"Just you wait and see." Jaden said as Chibimon started bouncing on Syrus' head in excitement.

"Ranamon is the ruler of all those that live in the depts. of the ocean including your sea creatures. So she can easy control them and make them listen to her." Dai explained.

"_Right. Sorry, Mikey dear, but I'm afraid my subjects are gonna have to come over here and join me." _The Warrior of Water said as she passed a wave of water over them, making them surf on it and end at Dai's side of the field, facing Michael, ready to attack him.

"Sorry, Michael. But you're finished. It was still an awesome duel, though." The mahogany haired girl said with a smile.

"Agreed." The blonde nodded with a smile of his own.

"Attack now!" the girl said and all of the creatures powers up, sending their attacks on their former master, Ranamon being the last to blast him with his attack, his Life Points rapidly reaching zero.

Michael covered his head as the attacks all hit him, then sighed as it was over, brushing a blonde curly lock out of his face to send a smile over to the younger girl.

"Looks like you won, Dai." He said.

"Yeah, I did." She said.

"Michael: 0

Dai: 2450

Jaden, Viximon, chibimon, Syrus, Alexis and Bastion all cheered, running down the stairs as Crowler and Chazz were dumbfounded that a senior Ra Yellow Student had lost to a Slifer freshmen.

"That was an awesome duel. Hope we do it again sometime." Dai said as the monsters faded away and she walked over to give her old friend a hug, that he returned.

"Who knows? We might." He said as the entire crowd all cheered.

"Dai!" Jaden cheered making her turn around.

"Big Sis!" Syrus said as Chibimon jumped off of his head and landed easily into his partner's arms, the girl hugging him.

"You were so awesome out there!" the bluenette praised as Jaden handed Betamon over to Michael.

"Are you OK?" the tadpole digimon asked his human quietly.

"I'm fine. Daisuke deserved to win." He assured.

"**Well, Daisuke Motomiya and Jaden Yuki, I believe you have both taught us all a valuable lesson here today. It doesn't matter what dorm you're in, but the passion you have for the game and respect for your deck and opponent. That is why I am rewarding you two with the acceptance into Ra Yellow."** Chancellor Shepard said.

"Well, allow me to be the first to welcome you both into Ra Yellow." Bastion said to the two chocolate eyed 14 year olds.

They laughed at that as the entire crowd ran down, surrounding the cousins, giving them their congratulations.

A few hours later, after Bastion was finished showing Jaden and Dai around the Ra dorms, the cousins had refused the offer to join, wanting to stay in Slifer Red a little longer.

The child of Darkness had gone off to tell Syrus and Chumley the good news while Dai hung out with Michael down by the water, Betamon playing with Chibimon.

"I still can't believe you go to this school. I never even knew it." she said.

"Actually, I already graduated. Dr. Crowler asked me to come back here merely for a duel with one of the students. I had no idea that it was you. I can't wait to tell Mimi and Willis when I get back to New York." He said as they watched the sun set.

"So this is really it then? This is the last time I'll see you in a while?" she asked as the two digimon splashed each other.

"Yes, it will be." He said looking at her.

"But it's fine. I know you and Jaden will take this school by storm, easily becoming the King and Queen. You might even give the Kaiser a run for his money." Michael said.

"Kaiser?" Dai asked tilting her head to the side.

The blonde gave her a smile before he stood up and walked over to the water holding his digivice.

"You'll meet him soon enough." He said.

Dai stood up too and walked over to him as Betamon and Chibimon came over.

"Betamon, time to go now." Michael said.

The tadpole nodded as he began to glow and jumped into the deep part of the ocean.

"Betamon digivolve too…Seadramon!"

The large sea dragon rose from the water and leaned his head down, ready for his partner to climb up on him so that they could swim home.

"Good luck here, you two." Michael said giving the girl one last hug before he got up on Seadramon, the dragon quickly swimming away from the island.

"Bye guys!" Dai called waving.

"Bye! Come back soon!" Chibimon yelled waving both paws.

With that final goodbye, the child of Miracles picked up her own dragon and walked back to her dorm, wondering what her friend had meant by the Kaiser.

Who was he?

TBC


	7. Practice Duel Bust

_Before I was back at home, I was helping my great grandfather Solomon Muto with his shop, Kame Games._

_He was restocking the new cards and I was outside just sweeping up the dirt and garbage that was on the door step._

_While I was doing it, some guy just walked by and dropped a soda can on the step, making me stop sweeping and look at him in annoyance._

"_Hey, buddy!" I called making him stop and turn around._

_He had black hair and green eyes and he was kinda cute, but had this aura around him that screamed 'I'm a tough guy, don't mess with me.'_

"_There a problem?" he asked with a sneer._

"_Yeah. I'm not a maid, so don't think I'm gonna pick up your trash. Show some respect and come over here and pick it up, then throw it out yourself." I said stepping up to him._

_He chuckled and licked his lips before he stepped closer to me, not even caring that I was glaring at him._

"_And what's a sweet thing like you gonna do 'bout it?" he asked._

_I gave him a look and dropped the broom before I grabbed his collar and pulled him down to face me._

"_Do it or I'll break your nose and possibly your arm." I threatened as Lowemon stood over me, giving off rays of darkness to frighten the male._

_He was soon shaking and nodded as I let him go and he quickly picked up his can and ran off to throw it away properly._

"_Thank you!" I said waving with a mocking smile and Lowemon shook his head in amusement before he faded off._

_The bell above the shop rang making me turn to see Solomon was there and he had a stern look on his face._

"_Hi Gramps." I said with a nervous laugh._

"_Honestly, Daisuke, you are the spitting image of your mother." He said shaking his head._

"_Not really, mom's taller and blonde." I said._

"_I meant personality wise." He said._

"_I know, I was just pointing it out." I said._

_He sighed with a small smile before he turned back to walk into the shop._

"_So you're mom's a blonde, huh? That explains why you have a thing for them." A familiar voice said from behind me._

"_I do not have a thing for blondes! Why do people keep saying that?" I asked frustrated as I turned to see TK Takaishi was standing there behind me with a smile on his face._

"_And there's the irony of a blonde saying that." I said rolling my eyes._

"_Nice to see you too." He said._

"_What're you doing here anyway?" I asked him as I picked my broom back up._

"_Just came for a visit. Kari's having a party and wanted to invite you, but no one was able to get a hold of you. Izzy used our D-3s to track down your signal and I came down to give you the invite." He explained._

_I hummed as I thought about it._

"_Yeah, I'll be back to Odaiba for the party in time. I just have to help my gramps here." I said turning to go back into the shop._

"_That explains it." he said as he followed me into the shop._

A few days later, the Slifer quartet are in the boys' room sitting at a table with their cards on the table, the only light in the room being provided by a candle.

"And underneath the full moon, I see a path to a cavern that seems…abandoned." Syrus said.

"Oh, really? Then what?" Jaden asked as Dai had her head on the table, trying to stay awake.

"Then at the back of the cavern, I see a mysterious lake. So I go in to look veeeery carefully and under just the right angle of light…at the very bottom of the lake, beyond my reflection, I see a rare and powerful card. Naturally I go to get it, but when I reached for it…an arm shoots out, grabs me and begins to pull me into the lake! HELP ME! Not the water! Anything but the water!" Syrus yells with a disturbed look on his face while Jaden smiles as he stares at him, unaffected by the story.

"Oh, water's not so scary." He said.

"Uh…dirty swamp water? Oh, you're right, only a chump would be scared of that." Syrus sighed as he leaned his chin in his hand, not noticing Chumley cowering in a corner behind him.

"Still, good story. Mid-level scare for mid-level card." Jaden said as he picked up the card the bluenette had drew.

"But me…I hope I get a high level." He said pulling out a card from the deck, but it was a level one monster.

"Oh, you lucked out. You hardly have to scare us at all with that low card." Syrus said in relief as Chumley sat back down at the table, Dai now snoozing as Renamon and V-Mon were both training outside on the roof.

"All right. Well, I think I have a story that will do the trick. Well, it's more like a memory. Back when I was a little kid, I used to hear sounds." The child of Darkness said with an amused expression.

"But I'd only hear them real late at night. I'd think I was dreaming, but then…they sounded like voices, but not ones I recognized. I would go to check it out, but every time I did…there was nothing. Nothing there at all, except my cards." Jaden said.

"And?" Syrus asked softly as he and Chumley were both entranced by the story.

"And that's the end of the story." Jaden chirped making the two boys groan and lean on the table.

"That's it?" they asked.

"But wanna hear something strange? Lately, I've started hearing 'em again." Jaden said with a thoughtful look.

"Hey, I want to join in on the fright fest." A voice laughed making the boys yell and wake Dai up.

The group turned to see Banner was standing behind the cousins with Pharaoh in his arms.

"You just did." Syrus said.

"We're kinda on the edge of our seats here." Jaden said.

"Or at least we were." Syrus said.

"What happened?" Dai asked looking around as Banner sweat dropped.

"But since you're here now, why don't you draw a card. The tougher it is, the scarier your story has to be." Syrus said as Chumley was cowering in the corner again.

"Oh, well that certainly sounds easy enough. Let's see here." Banner said as he drew a card and turned it to expose a level 12 monster.

"Oh, that's a level 12 monster." Jaden gasped.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go to bed now." Syrus said as Banner laughed.

"What is wrong? Don't you want to hear about the abandoned dorm at the end of the island?" the black haired teacher asked making Dai and Jaden lean forward in interest.

"Abandoned dorm?" they asked.

"Yes. No one talks about it, but there was once a special dorm set at the edge of the forest. It was shut down after several students mysteriously went missing." Banner said.

"Where'd they all go?" Syrus gulped.

"Well, that's the mystery of it. The rumour was that it had something to do with Shadow Games." The teacher said making the cousins go on edge, but quickly hid their emotions.

Seto and Yugi had told them both to act as if the Shadow Games didn't exist so that it wouldn't bring any bad publicity to the Kaiba Company and the cousins would be safe.

"Thanks, you can stop now!" Chumley yelled making everyone give him curious looks.

"You see kids, Shadow Games are duels played with powerful, mystical items." Banner continued despite the heavyset boy's wishes to stop.

"Millennium items, right? I've heard about this, but it's not true." Jaden said.

"It's just some superstition." Dai agreed making Banner laugh.

"Yes, that is what most people say, but I find that most stories…well, they have to come from somewhere." Banner said fixing his glasses before Pharaoh yowled.

"Well, I think that is my cue to get back home." He said standing up and walking out of the room.

"Later." The cousins and Syrus said to him as he closed the door behind him.

"You know, there is this creepy building I saw in the forest once." Syrus said.

Dai thought about it when she had been racing Jaden with Raidramon and Kyuubimon and she had spotted the old, run down dorm once before.

"Oh, sweet. Then you'll lead the way for us tomorrow night." Jaden said.

"Wait a sec! What do you mean us?" Chumley asked freaking Syrus out as he appeared behind him.

"It'll be fun. Yeah!" Jaden laughed making the two other boys groan.

"I'm not going." Dai said leaning back in her seat.

"What?" they asked.

"Jay, if Uncle Set finds out about this, we'll be grounded until graduation. There's no way I'm going. But if anyone asks if your guys were there, I'm gonna do what I always do when we're in trouble." She said.

"What's that?" Syrus asked.

"Deny, deny, deny."** (Does this line sound familiar?)** The child of Miracles said as she stood up and walked out of the room and went to bed.

The next day after the night the Slifer boys went to the abandoned dorm, Dai was woken by the sound of someone pounding on the dorm next to her room.

She growled in frustration as she threw her covers off of her form, Chibimon looking up with blurry eyes as he watched his partner storm over to her dorm.

"What is going on out here?!" Dai yelled as she threw the door open and saw people standing there dressed in green uniforms.

"Miss, we'll have to ask you to return to your room." One of the men said to her.

Dai glared at them when she saw Syrus and Jaden being dragged out of their room.

"No! Not when you have my friend and cousin with you. What is going on here?" she demanded.

"We are the Disciplinary Action Squad." Said a women dressed in the same green outfit with a barette and cape.

"Dai, look. Everything's fine. Just go back to bed. We'll talk later." Jaden swore.

Dai watched as the two boys were pulled out of their dorms, Viximon and Chibimon jumping onto her shoulders as they watched in worry as Jaden and Syrus were led away.

Chumley walked out of his room and saw Dai watching in worry, then told her what had happened last night.

She was shocked to hear about her cousin being a part of a Shadow Game, thankful that it was fake.

When it was mentioned that Alexis was also a part of it being kidnapped to get Jaden to duel for her safe return, the child of Miracles sent Grumblemon and Mercurymon off to do some snooping around for her while she got dressed and waited for Jaden and Syrus to return.

When the boys returned, they told them that Crowler had sentenced them to a tag duel that if they lost they would be expelled and that made Dai extremely suspious.

When the Warriors of Metal and Earth returned, they told their Master all about how Crowler paid the man who set up the entire fake Shadow Game to scare Jaden, but then changed it so that he could get Jaden expelled.

Dai was boiling over in anger at this that her cousin had to call Ken and have him talk to her to calm her down.

Chumley and Alexis both tried to get Sheppard to get him to allow them to either be Jaden's partner.

When Chumley came back into the room, Syrus ran to him.

"Did he say yes? Oh, please tell me that he said yes. If I'm Jaden's partner, then I'll get us both expelled." He cried hugging the older male.

"I tried, Syrus. I even lied and told the Chancellor I was the one that led you into the dorm." Chumley said sadly while Jaden just laughed as he checked his cards.

"Well, you did lead us into its cafeteria." He said.

"Hey, why aren't you worried, Jaden?" Syrus asked turning to his friend.

"Aren't you afraid that I'm gonna get us kicked out?" he asked walking over to him.

"Nah. I wouldn't want any other partner." Jaden said.

"What're you, nuts?" Syrus asked.

"Look Syrus, we're gonna go in there, duel our best and win the match. Why? 'Cause you and I are gonna work out all our kinks right now. Now go and grab your deck buddy." Jaden said standing up and holding his deck.

"'Cause we're gonna duel." He said making the blunette gasp in fright.

"_This is going to be good."_ Lobomon said appearing beside Dai.

The Slifers all gathered outside to the river, Chumley and Dai standing on the cliff edge overlooking the two boys as they got ready to duel.

"Al right you guys, remember, this is just practise for your upcoming tag team match, so go easy." Chumley said as the waves crashed.

"Dude, Jaden doesn't know the meaning of the word." Dai said crossing her arms.

That was the one thing that Jaden shared in common with Seto.

"I was afraid of that." Chumley sighed feeling bad for Syrus.

"That's probably a good thing." A familiar voice said making the two turn to see Alexis was walking over to join them in watching the match.

"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.

"It means I know Dr. Crowler and he's not gonna be matching them up with any push overs." She said standing next to Dai.

"Both Syrus and Jaden are going to need to be at their very best because if they're not…they'll both be expelled." Alexis said.

"All right, Syrus, get your game on, buddy and let's have some fun." Jaden said.

"Sure. Fun. I guess we might as well squeeze some in before we get kicked out of here." Syrus muttered.

"Uh, what was that?" the child of Darkness asked.

"Oh, uh, nothing." Syrus said sweat dropping.

"Then let's duel." Jaden said.

"Uh, yeah. Let's duel." Syrus sighed.

"I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode." Jaden said as the wind based Hero appeared.

"And I'll also throw down a face down. Your go." Jaden finished.

"All right. Let's see…" Syrus said as he drew a card and smiled a bit when he saw it.

"Hey, what's that smile about? You got something?" Jaden called snapping the boy out of it.

"Uh, well, um yeah. I think so." Syrus said.

"Sy, you need to show more confidence when you play a card. Have faith in its power and yourself." Dai called down to him.

"Petroide, ATK mode." Syrus said as the cute little police car robot appeared.

"_That thing is a joke."_ Mercurymon scoffed making Dai, Jaden, Chibimon and Viximon shoot him a warning look.

"Go, Siren Smasher!" Syrus called as the robot attacked with his siren blaring.

"Not so fast. I got a trap. Negate ATK!" Jaden said revealing his Face Down and it stopped Petroide right in its tracks.

"Aw man. I should've guessed that your Face Down was a Trap." The bluenette said.

"Duh. Sy walked right into that one." Chumley said when something brushed up against his leg.

He looked down to see Pharaoh was there purring and he picked him up as the girls watched the two Slifer boys.

"This isn't a good sign. There's no way they'll stand a chance at the tag match if Syrus plays like this." Alexis said.

Said boy was humming as he started drawing swirls in the dirt.

"Oh, boy. Don't cha think that dirt is just the coolest, Jaden?" Syrus asked.

"Sy, don't crack up yet. You just made one mistake, that's all." Jaden said.

"That's nothing compared to the trillion of mistakes we've made, right Jay?" Dai teased making her cousin laugh.

"Yeah, but coming to this school was the biggest mistake I've ever made." Syrus said standing up.

"No, Sy. You just forgot to use Petroide's special power is all. He lets you check out one of your opponents Face Down cards once per turn. You could've seen my trap." Jaden said hoping it helped his friend, but it just made him feel worse.

"Yeah, I know I'm no good. I don't belong here." The insecure Slifer said.

"Whoa, slow down there. I didn't mean anything like that." Jaden said.

"Huh? I…I know you didn't mean it, Jaden. I know you were just trying to help, it's just that…" Syrus trailed off.

"No, look. You're right. I shouldn't butt in. We're opponents right now and from here on out, we gotta act like them." Jaden said with a smile as he got fired up.

"Game on! I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in ATK mode." He said as the Hero appeared in a flash of electricity and light.

"_He's stealing my thunder."_ Beetlemon said.

"And now I'll have my Sparkman attack Petroide!" Jaden said as the Hero formed a lightning bolt on his hand and threw it at the robot, destroying him and taking out Syrus' Life Points.

"And now, Avian, attack Sy! Wind Storm Strike!" Jaden called as Viximon hopped onto his shoulder, watching with calculating eyes.

Syrus yelled as the winds assaulted him, blowing around his body and taking out more Life Points.

He fell down on his back as his Life Points were dropped down to 2600 while Jaden remained with his 4000.

"Last, I'll throw down a Face Down. And that's it." Jaden said.

"Can I crack up now? I just got nailed on both of our turns. I can't win." Syrus said as he sat up.

"Of course you can win, Syrus. You just have to believe in yourself." Alexis said.

"She's so right. Don't give up. I mean, duh, Syrus. That's the first thing they teach you in Freshmen dueling class. I should know. I had to take it twice." Chumley called down making Dai, Chibimon, Agunimon and Beetlemon snort at that, but the two Warriors were then shooed away by a flick of their Master's hand, signaling them to stop appearing for now.

"You're right. I can't give up the match so soon. Especially since I'm not just dueling for myself, but for Jaden as well. And the best thing I can do for him right now would be…to take him down." Syrus said as he stood up feeling more confident.

"Whoo hoo! That-a boy!" Dai cheered as Chibimon miraculously had on a t-shirt with the boy's face on it and two blue and red pompoms.

"Come on, Sy! You can do this!" Alexis called.

"Totally. We believe in ya. You just gotta believe in yourself. Duh." Chumley called down to him.

"You know Chumley, you're pretty good with words of encouragement." The Obelisk Queen smiled at him.

"Huh? Yeah, well I got all kinds of books on self-motivation. For some reason my dad keeps getting 'em for me." He said with a small grin as the girls shared a look.

"Yeah, I wonder why." The blonde said.

"It's a mystery." The Slifer female shrugged.

"Anyway, at least Syrus is playing in the duel now rather than the dirt. Nice job." Alexis said.

"Why thank you." The eldest Slifer said.

"No problem. Now the question is; how will he play?" Alexis said as the trio faced the two opponents.

"All right. I'm throwing down the Spell Card, Pot of Greed. And now I'll use it's magical charm and then draw two additional cards from my deck." Syrus said as he drew the cards.

He gasped in shock at one of the cards he drew and the others were wondering about what was wrong.

"Just holding this card gives me the chills. And what did he mean that knowing how to use it wasn't enough?" Syrus asked himself as he stared at the card as the others gave him a curious look.

Just what was going on with him?

"Hey, you all right there Sy?" Jaden called to his friend as he stopped shaking in fear.

He snapped out of whatever was bothering him and placed the card he was intently staring at back in his hand and pulled out another.

"I'm gonna play this spell card. Polmerazation. And I'll use it to fuse together the Giroid and Steamroid that I have in my hand to create the Steam Giroid!" Syrus said as the two robots were fused to create a half train and half helicopter robot.

"All right Steam Giroid, it's time to go local motive. Attack! Train Twister!" he called as the robot's propeller spun around, a twister forming and it went straight Avian and destroyed him.

Jaden cried out in pain as he fell to his knees as his Life Points dropped to 2800, Dai feeling worry for him and Viximon was there to comfort him.

You got to love having digimon.

They will always be loyal to you no matter what and will be at your side to pick you up when you fall.

"All right! Got cha! Had enough practice?" Syrus asked but was surprised when he heard Jaden making a noise as his body shook.

He then started laughing joyfully as he got back up on his feet, Viximon smiling at him.

"What're you talking about 'have I had enough'? Come on, you know the old saying; no pain, no gain. And with what I have planned, you stand to get a lot." Jaden said.

The maroon haired girl shook her head at that.

Jaden was becoming a bit more like his father each duel he had.

"All right Syrus, you may be one of my best pals, but right now we're rivals and I got the cards to treat you like one. Brace yourself, now…I activate the Spell Card Polmerazation! Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Clayman unite.

The two Heroes nodded as they formed into a new powerful monster.

"And here he comes…The Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" the child of Darkness yelled as thunder boomed and lightning crashed as the new Hero emerged on the field.

Pharaoh yowled as he jumped out of Chumley's arms and started running away, Chibimon shaking his head at him.

"Scaredy cat." He muttered so only his partner heard.

"That cat's got the right idea." Alexis said.

"Oh, please. It's just another monster, Alexis." Chumley said.

"No it's not, Chumley. Thunder Giant can destroy one monster on the turn he's summoned when the monster's original ATK points are less than our own." The blonde said.

"Really? Guess practice must be getting out early for Syrus then." he said.

Syrus was staring at the new monster as it roared in amazement and a bit of fear.

"_I told ya he was stealing my thunder!"_ Beetlemon pouted as Dai gave him a look to drop it.

"OK Thunder Giant, take out Steam Giroid!" Jaden yelled as the Hero growled and lightning crackled around him and sparks rained down from the stormy sky, hitting the robot as he covered his head for cover, but was destroyed.

"Oh man, that leaves me defenceless." Syrus said when the attack was over and the sky cleared up.

"You bet it does, but I'm not done yet. Burstiatrix! I summon you in ATK Mode!" Jaden called out his female Hero.

"Now comes the double act attack. Thunder Giant; Voltaic Thunder!" he ordered as lightning was lasted at the short Slifer and he cried to from the attack, Dai wincing in sympathy.

Alexis and Chumley groaned as their friend's Life points dropped to 200 and knew his end had come.

"Now Burtisatrix, attack! Flare Storm!" Jaden called.

The female Hero called down her flames and they knocked Syrus down onto his back as his Life Points were finally dropped down to 0.

"And that would be game. That was a good duel there, Syrus." Jaden said with a sweet smile and did he signature two fingered salute.

"I don't know about that. I didn't put up too much of a fight, Jaden." The bluenette said as he sat up.

"What're you talking about?" Jaden asked as the monsters faded away and he walked over to give his friend a hand up.

"Sure I was able to pull it out at the end, but you made some sweet moves. You ought to be proud." Jaden said.

"Yeah." Syrus sighed.

"Although, I got to admit, I'm curious about something. What was that one card you drew that you didn't play? You looked so excited." Jaden said as Viximon swiped the cards out of the shorter boy's hand, making him gasp as the fox hopped into her partner's arms and handed them to him to see.

"Ah! Power Bond? Why didn't you use it? You could have doubled Steam Giroid's ATK Points. You'd of had one tough monster. On second thought, for my sake, I'm glad you didn't use it." Jaden said as Dai hopped down from the cliff and landed beside him.

"You don't understand." Syrus said standing up.

"My big bro says I'm not good enough to use it and I'll probably never be." He said taking his cards back.

"And it's pretty clear you'll never be able to win the tag team duel if I'm your partner." He said sadly as he ran away.

"Sy, wait." Jaden called.

"Syrus!" Dai called.

"Sy!' Chumley called turning and running back to the dorm where he knew the boy was heading.

The cousins held their digimon as they watched the waves crash against the shore, worry for their friend consuming them.

"I guess practice doesn't always make for perfect, huh guys?" Alexis said as she joined them.

"At least not for Syrus it seems." She said.

"I don't get it. He's such a cool guy. I wish he could just see what I see. That the only thing that holds him back is himself. I mean, he had this primo card all set to play, but he doesn't use I and why? 'Cause some brother of his said to not to." Jaden said feeling a bit annoyed at whoever this jerk was.

"What is it, Alexis?" Dai asked when the blonde gasped in shock.

"Are we missing something here?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, that brother of his goes to this school. And you probably heard of him too." Alexis said looking down.

The cousins shared a confused look at that.

"What're you talking about?" they asked.

"Hello? Third year Obelisk Blue and number 1 duellist at the academy? He's the big man on campus. Zane, the Kaiser." She said making Jaden, Viximon and Chibimon share a nervous look when the child of Miracles was stiff with wide chocolate brown eyes.

"And he really is as good as his reputation." Alexis continued seeing the look Dai had.

"Wait! That guy Michael told me about is related to Syrus? Sweet little Syrus?" Dai asked.

"Yeah." Alexis said nodding.

"…I don't like him." The maroon haired girl said making her cousin laugh knowing the issue she had with Kaisers and bad older brothers that picked on their younger siblings.

"Well, I'll tell you Alexis, it doesn't sound like he's good to his little brother. I agree with Dai completely. Man, I wonder what happened between them." Jaden wondered as he looked out at the calm sparkling blue water.

"Jaden…don't pry." Alexis said softly.

"Oh, I won't pry. I'll duel this guy to find out what's up." Jaden said smiling confidently shocking the blonde.

"Michael did say that we could possibly give him a run for his money." Dai said with a smirk as Alexis gave her a stunned look as well.

"Jaden, Daisuke. You're not listening. Nobody messes with Zane." She said.

"And nobody messes with my friends." Dai said giving her a look that made the Obelisk Queen back off.

"And when their tag team partner's not dueling up to snuff because of him. Besides, I wanna see how I stack up." Jaden said smiling cutely as he got fired up and eager to duel the Kaiser.

Alexis still looked worried about her new friends, but smiled as she decided to support them.

"You go get him, Jaden." She said.

"All right. Look out, Zane 'cause I'm coming for you!" the child of Darkness said as he pumped his fist in the air and the waves crashing against the shore.

To be continued…


	8. Kaiser Vs Digidestind

_After it was safe in the Digital World, I brought Jaden with me to meet the others for a picnic there._

_He was eager to meet them as we got to the computer lab, everyone turning to us when they saw the duel haired brunette._

"_Dai, who's this guy?" Tai asked when he saw the boy._

"_Everyone, this is Judai Jaden Yuki. But everyone calls him Jaden. He's my cousin" I told them all as Chibimon ran over._

"_Hiya. It'sh nice to meet cha. I'm Chibimon." He said._

"_Ah, how cool. A real live digimon. This is sweet!" Jaden said picking the little guy up._

"_It's nice to meet you, Jaden. My name is Ken Ichijouji and this is Wormmon." The child of Kindness said with a sweet smile._

_I know. Dai told me all about everyone here. It's nice to meet you all." Jaden said._

"_It's safe to assume you'll be coming with us, then." Izzy said._

"_You bet!" my cousin happily said._

_He held onto my arm as we were pulled into the computer and came out of a pretty world that was filled with white flowers and it was dark out, the stars glittering in the sky and the moon was full._

"_What is this place?" Matt asked._

"_It's so pretty." Kari sighed with a smile._

"_Guys, look at this." Cody said as his D-3 beeped._

"_I just got a signal." He said._

"_What? Why?" TK asked as we all gathered around the boy._

"_I don't know." Cody said with a frown._

"_Well, let's go check it out." I said._

"_All right, we're going on an adventure!" Jaden cheered._

"_Oh no, now we have a male version of Daisuke." Yolei sighed._

_We all followed the signal and found out that it was coming from a digi egg._

_It was oval shaped and had a candy cane colored bow wrapped around it and it had a four pointed star on it in purple._

"_What is that thing?" Sora asked._

"_It looks like a digi egg." Gatomon said._

"_But how is that possible? We all already have our digi eggs." Kari said confused._

"_Maybe there's a new Digidestind that it belongs to." Ken suggested._

"_Well, we'll never know unless we try." V-Mon said._

_I nodded to him and walked over to the egg._

_It had a blade in it and usually eggs with blades in them belonged to me._

_As soon as I touched it, it glowed a dark violet color and I felt the mark of Darkness on my back vibrating._

_I gasped as the light shot over to where Jaden was, everyone crying out as he caught the ball of light._

_He watched it as he opened his hands to view that it had become a white and purple D-3._

"_Guys, check this out." He smiled._

"_No way!" Tai gasped._

"_Jaden's a Digidestind?" TK asked._

"_So that must mean the new digi egg belongs to him." Patamon said._

_I smiled at that as I stood up._

"_Sounds good to me." I said._

_My cousin smiled at me as he ran over to the egg and crouched down in front of it as we all watched him._

_He gave the egg a small tug and it popped off._

"_Wow, it's so light." He said._

"_We got problems." Agumon said._

_A pillar of light shot out of the ground and we all watched as a shadow formed._

_It slowly took on the form of a tall fox digimon that was yellow with white paws and purple arm guards._

_She was curled up in a ball, then she opened up her bright blue eyes and looked right towards Jaden, then jumped out of the purple light, doing three front flips before she landed soundlessly on her feet._

"_Who is that?" the male digimon asked with stars in their eyes, V-Mon being the only one who wasn't under the love struck spell the lovely fix had unknowingly cast._

"_That's Renamon." He said._

"_She's a Rookie level, but is as strong as a Champion. Watch out though, 'cause she can pack a punch with her Power Paw." The dragon explained._

"_How do you know about her?" Tentomon asked._

"_How do you not?" V-Mon asked._

_Renamon looked at Jaden and she knelt down in front of him._

"_It's a pleasure to meet you. I've been waiting for you to come free me for a while now." She said._

"_Might I ask your name?" she asked._

"_It's Jaden. Nice to meet cha, Renamon. Those were some pretty sweet moves you showed there." Jaden smiled at her._

"_Thank you, Master Jaden." She said._

"_Hey, come on now. We're friends here. Just call me Jaden." He said holding out a hand to her._

_She gave him as curious look as she hesitantly placed her three fingered paw in his hand and he helped her stand up properly and showed that the fox was a head taller than him._

"_So what is that mark on the egg supposed to be anyway?" Tai asked._

"_Why don't we try it out to see?" I asked._

_Jaden nodded with a smile as he held the egg up._

"_DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!" he cried._

"_Renamon armour digivolve too…Reppamon: the Hunter of Darknees!"_

_The new fox with an ax for a tail stood in front of us and we all stared at her amazed._

"_Darkness? She just said Darkness." Yolei cried._

"_Guys, Darkness isn't evil. Remember? It can be used for good just like the power of Light." I said reminding them of the Warriors that I had gained a few weeks ago._

"_You look awesome, Reppamon." Jaden said as he hugged the fox that wore a white and red mask._

"_Thank you." She said._

"_Hey, let's hurry up and eat already." Tai said as Matt slapped him over the head._

_Jaden got up on his new partner's back and took off on her as the rest of us armour digivolved our own partners and followed after him, Raidramon and Reppamon being tied._

Dai and Jaden were both in the front office where they could pick duel request forms and Jaden was filling one out so that he could duel with the Kaiser.

"I can't believe this Zane guy. I mean, no wonder Syrus has zero confidence. If my big bro told me that I wasn't good enough to use some card, I would be insecure too. But that's all about to change. These duel request forms are such a drag." Jaden said.

"I'm sure you'll beat him, Jaden." Viximon said as she stood on the table he was writing out the form on.

"Thanks, Vixi." He smiled at her feeling grateful to have her.

"I'm hungry. Can we hurry this up please?" Chibimon asked with a yawn as he lay in his partner's arms looking half dead.

"You ate twenty minutes ago." Dai said.

"What's your point?" he asked making her groan.

"Duel request form?" Crowler's voice said as the man crept over Jaden's shoulder and swiped the sheet from the boy, Viximon hissing at him in anger.

"Hey!" Jaden protested.

"Planning a duel are we? Against whom?" Crolwer asked as he scanned the sheet and then his eyes widened in shock.

"You must be joking." He said running a hand through his hair.

"No, actually I'm not." The Slifer red boy said holding out his hand for the form to be returned.

"I'm taking Zane on to help Syrus get over his confidence problem so he'll be ready for our upcoming tag match." Jaden said.

"Ah, yes. Of course. The big tag team match. The one that if you lose you'll both be expelled from the academy, am I right? And you say that duelling Zane will help you prepare? Well, that's a shame because there will be no duel." Crowler laughed as he tore the form up right in front of Jaden's face, Viximon snarling at him, almost digivolving to Renamon so that she could beat this man who was messing with her Master.

The blonde male walked off laughing as Chibimon's little brain worked on pranks he could pull on the freak.

"Lousy Dr. Crowler." Jaden ranted as the cousins and digimon walked off into the forest.

"Where does it say those duel request forms need to be filled out in triplets and with a number 8 pencil?" he ranted as he thought back to what the man had said.

There was a small shout as cards rained down on the duos of Miracles and Darkness.

"Hey!" Dai cried out.

"What is that?" Jaden asked as they looked up to see the oldest Slifer was hanging onto a tree branch like a koala bear.

"Ah ha. It's either a giant tree sloth or it's Chumley." Jaden sighed making Dai chuckle.

"Hey. What up?" Chumley asked.

"You at the moment." The girl said.

"Huh. Oh. Wow, chum, you have like a zillion koala cards down here." Jaden said as he looked at the cards on the ground.

"Yeah, they so rule. Wanna have a pick up duel against them?" Chumley asked as the cousins and their digimon picked up the cards and then handed them over to the male Digidestind.

"Hey, a pick up duel. Why didn't I think of that?" he asked as he set the deck down and ran off with a wave, Viximon hopping onto his shoulder.

"Hey, wait! Where are you off to?" Chumley called to him.

"The Obelisk Blue dorm!" he yelled back.

"Why are you going there?" the black haired boy asked.

"A pick up duel with Zane!" Jaden yelled back.

"Did you say Zane?!" Chumley yelled as he lost his grip and fell down on the ground.

Dai helped him up and then they ran after the dual haired brunette and when they finally got there, they saw that two Obelisk males had just thrown Jaden on the ground and then tossed water down on him.

Viximon was outright growling like a wild cat and nearly digivolved, but stopped when Jaden picked her up.

"Jay, you OK?" Dai asked as she kneeled next to him.

"Yeah. A little water won't stop me. I'm gonna duel Zane no matter what." He said with that same fire that would normally be seen in Dai's eyes was burning brightly in his.

The Slifer trio went back to the dorm and Jaden was drying his hair with a towel as they walked back to his room.

"So what're you gonna do now?" Chumley asked.

"Well I'll tell you one thing I'm not gonna do and that's give up. I'll get Zane to duel me one way or another." Jaden said as he opened up his room door, the three humans and two digimon walking into the room.

"Ah, Sy are you still in bed?" the child of Darkness asked when he saw the lump that was in the middle bunk bed.

"Look, I know that you're down but that's no excuse to act like some lazy slug. I mean, even Chumley got up today." He said as he walked over to the beds, Chumley stiffening at that small insult and then glared at his roommate.

"Yeah, lousy bladder." He said.

"Ha!" Jaden said as he pulled the sheets back, but revealed that the blue haired boy was gone.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" he asked.

"Look, he left a note." Chumley said as he picked it up off of the desk.

"What's it say?" Dai asked as the cousins flanked the heavyset boy.

It said that Syrus was leaving.

"Arg!" Jaden growled as he grabbed the note and crumpled it up.

"Sy's not going anywhere." He said.

"Yeah, let's go stop him after dinner." Chumley said making Dai whack him over the head.

"No, we're going now." Jaden said.

"But today's grilled cheese day!" Chumley said.

"If we don't hurry it'll be Sy's last day!" Jaden yelled grabbing the black haired boy and pulled him out.

"Let's check from the air." Chibimon said as he and Viximon digivolved to V-Mon and Renamon, Chumley screaming in shock at that.

"What are those things?" he asked.

"Our digimon partners. We're Digidestinds." Jaden said.

"We might as well tell you guys. Now, we'll check the skies and you guys check the grounds." Dai said.

"Right." Jaden said as they both pulled out their D-3s.

"V-Mon…"

"Renamon…"

"Digivolve too…" they both said.

"XV-MON!"

"KYUUBIMON!"

Dai climbed up on her dragon's back and held onto his shoulder blades as Jaden mounted his nine tailed fox.

"Chumley, let's go. Climb on." He said to the still stunned male.

"We have to move quickly." Kyuubimon said.

"Message with the D-terminals if you find him." XV-Mon said as his spread out his wings.

He then flapped and was in the air as Chumley got over his fear and climbed onto the fox's back, the hung on tightly as she took off in a run to search the island, tracking down their missing friend.

"Do you see anything?" the dragon asked as he hovered high in the skies so that they could get a good view of the entire island.

"Not yet." Dai said with a frown as she searched the area.

She then spotted a small raft by these rocks where the light house was and gasped when she saw Syrus was there with Kyuubimon, Chumley and Jaden, running over to the bluenette.

She also saw Alexis and that boy she had seen before on her first day at the school were watching them, both looking stunned by the beautiful fox and then looked up to see Dai on XV-Mon.

"Get down there now." Dai said to her partner.

"Got it." he said swooping down to them when Syrus jumped onto the raft and it then Jaden followed after him, the entire raft falling apart.

"JADEN!" Kyuubimon cried out in fear.

"I got them!" XV-Mon said as he swooped down to the water and reached his hands in.

He then pulled out the two boys, Syrus crying out in fear at the sight of the dragon.

"W-What's going on here?!" he asked as the dragon set the three humans down.

"Well, Vixi and Chibi are really Viximon and Chibimon. They're digimon. Our digimon. Our parents told Sheppard about this so that we could have them with us for protection." Jaden explained as Kyuubimon reverted back to Renamon and walked over to stand beside her partner and XV-Mon returned to V-Mon.

"That explains a lot. But…why are you trying to stop me, Jaden? I stink. Please, just let me go." Syrus said looking down as he hugged himself looking miserable.

"They'll assign you a new tag partner and you'll have a much better shot at winning the match." He said.

"Sy, that's your brother talkin'. Come on, pal. You gotta believe in yourself." Jaden said.

"You gotta believe me. I'm a lost cause." Syrus said as the child of Darkness shook in annoyance while Dai frowned.

"He is right you know." An unfamiliar voice said making the group all look up to see Alexis and the Obelisk Blue male was standing there watching them.

"Zane." Syrus gasped.

Dai gasped and looked at him in shock, her chocolate eyes meeting the cool metal colored eyes of the older male.

That was Zane?!

"So that's the school's top duellist." Jaden mussed.

"I still don't like him." Dai said crossing her arms as she turned away from the teal haired male as his steel gray eyes glanced over to her in interest.

"Isn't that what cha said about Ken?" V-Mon said making his partner glare and bumped him on the head with her fist.

"You're dropping out?" Zane asked his brother.

"Yeah, kinda." Syrus said.

"Well, it's about time." Zane said closing his eyes making his brother look down in misery as Dai stepped up in front of him and placed a hand on his head as she glared up at the teal haired male.

Syrus pulled away, not feeling like he was worthy to have someone like Dai to show kindness to him.

"He's wrong." Jaden said to him.

The blue haired boy shook as he tried to not sob in front of his friends.

"You're his big brother. How can you say that?" Jaden demanded the Kaiser feeling angry at someone for the few times in his life.

"Because I know him." Zane said making Alexis gasp.

"Yeah, I bet ya think you know it all, but guess what? You don't and I'm gonna prove it right now. Let's duel." Jaden said making Syrus turn to him feeling horrified about this.

"No, Jaden!" he said.

"Duel a Slifer?" Zane asked.

"Oh, just do it." Dai said as she turned back to him, the Kaiser looking down into her eyes seeing the fire in them that were challenging him to accept and he found himself rising to it.

"Sure, why not? It's been a while since I went slumming." He said with a smug grin.

"Then get your game on." Jaden said.

"Jaden, he's good." Syrus said.

"I'm sure he is." The child of Darkness said as he thought long and hard on the fact that this duel would help solve the mystery.

It was now dark out as the group all walked together to stand off from where the light house was, the Rookie digimon standing beside the child of Miracles to watch the duel between the Digidestind and the Kaiser.** (I had to say that!)**

"Duel." They said each drawing five cards.

"Aw man! My big brother taking on my best friend? There's no way that this could turn out good." Syrus said.

"Aw, chill out. This'll be a cool duel to watch. Quit freakin'." V-Mon said with a wave of his hand and smile.

"It's gonna take a while to get used to that." Chumley said referring to the talking dragon and fox.

"OK, now we find out what's happening between Sy and his bro and we find out how I rank with the best." Jaden said with a cute excited look.

Renamon smiled at that.

"Here I come Zane." Jaden said as he pulled out his first card.

As the duel went on, it looked close, but it all changed when Zane called out Cyber End Dragon and then used Power Bond, making its ATK Points go up to 8000 and took out Jaden's Life Points, wining the duel.

"Jaden, no!" Chumley cried as the Slifer fell to his knee.

"Jaden!" Renamon cried out in worry as she ran over to his side and hugged him to her chest.

"Jaden…he lost." Alexis said.

"Noooo!" Syrus cried as he ran over to him.

The dual brunette looked up at Zane with a smile.

"Thanks for a great duel, Zane." He said.

Zane gave him a small smile in response as he turned around.

He then looked back at his brother, who had a determined look on his face as Jaden stood up and the duo of Miracles joined them.

The Kaiser then walked off with Alexis following after him.

"Your brother's got mad skills." Jaden complimented.

"I still don't like him…but he's not as much of a bad guy as I thought he was." Dai said.

"That means she thinks he's cute." V-Mon whispered with a smirk as his partner blushed and bopped him on the head again.

"Well, at least I got the looks." Syrus joked making the others all look at him.

The group then all laughed, Syrus included until he stopped.

"What's funny?" he asked.

"Come on. Let's go home and work on our decks." Jaden said.

"And I say we arrange yours so you can finally use that Power Bond. How 'bout it?" he asked. Sure, now I know to play it, not just use it." Syrus said as Chumley's stomach growled.

"Yeah, well, you know what I could use? A couple of grilled cheese sandwiches." He groaned holding his stomach.

"Not if I scarf them all down first, Chumley." Jaden said as he ran off, the two boys chasing after him as Renamon followed in the shadows.

"Jaden. Wait up!" Syrus cried.

"Aw, we gotta run again?" Chumley groaned.

The boys all laughed as they ran.

"Seriously, can we just walk though?" Chumley asked again.

Dai sighed as Grumblemon appeared with a plate full of grilled cheese sandwiches and was munching on one.

"_Why you no tell them I get them?"_ he asked.

"They didn't ask." She said with a shrug as V-Mon took one and started eating.

To be continued…


	9. Father vs Son

_OK, when I was in New York for a year I was on the cheerleading team and became friends with three members of the squad._

_Zoe Samuels, Rika Lafont and Akira Momomiya._

_We had a sleep over once and we watched the movie Twilight on request of Akira, who was a total Twi-hard._

_I wasn't really, I just watched them because I loved the wolves and I find Taylor Lautner, Booboo Stewart and the guy who plays Paul to be hot._

"_I just don't get what is so appealing about Edward. I mean, he's so depressing and broody and just blah." I groaned as we sat on the floor of Rika's apartment watching it._

"_I mean look. If a guy snuck into my room and I woke up to find him staring at me, I would scream 'RAPE!' and then push him out my window." I said._

_I actually did do that once._

_I was staying at Willis' family's summer house with them for a week and woke up in the middle of the night and saw someone was in my room next to the window._

_I screamed 'RAPE!' at the top of my lungs, jumped at the guy and pushed him out the opened window._

_When Mrs. Stewart ran in to see what was going on, we went to the window and saw that it was Willis I had tossed out._

_I still don't know what he was doing in my room that night and at that hour or how my window was opened when I was sure it was shut when I was asleep._

"_He's a closet pervert, all right." Rika said brushing her auburn hair back as her blue eyes watched the screen in a bored way._

"_She's just terrible at flirting. Poor Jakey gets his heart broken by the mean depressed chick that needs to get over herself. Seriously, she's suicidal. That's why she wants to become a vampire." Zoe said as she twirled a strand of blonde hair, her brown eyes sparkling with mischief._

"_Ah, guys! Stop. This is my favorite movie." Akira whined giving us the puppy dog pout, her green eyes all watery behind her circular glasses, her short blue hair in a similar style to Alice Cullen's in the first movie._

"_Fine." We said watching the movie, but would throw in quips every so often about it._

_Finally, it came to the epic scene where Bella and Edward had their big confrontation in the woods._

"_What kind of idiot walks into the woods where there have been a series of attacks with a guy that she knows is a blood sucking monster?" Zoe asked as she shoved a spoonful of cookie dough ice cream in her mouth._

"_Because she's in love with him. And he's so…" Akira trailed off in a dreamy sigh._

"_Oh please. The guys I'm friends with are way hotter than Robert Patterson." I scoffed eating my mint chocolate chip ice cream._

"_She has a point." Rika said as she tossed the remote up and caught it after it spun in the air a couple of times._

"_**Say it. Out loud. Say it."**__ Edward said and the auburn haired girl quickly muted out Bella's answer._

"_Fairy." Rika said making me laugh._

"_Fairy?" Zoe asked puzzled._

"_He sparkles." Rika shrugged making the blonde nod in understanding._

_I love these girls; they were like sisters to me, though not like Mimi._

_Rika and I had more things in common though in personality wise and athletics._

_Normally we would go up on the roof of the apartments and watch the stars while we talked about whatever came to mind._

_Those girls were awesome and I have to say I miss them a lot._

_I should really give them a call._

The cousins were resting under a tree that was up on a hill outside their dorm enjoying the fresh breeze and the peace.

V-Mon and Renamon were training by the water, free to do what they wish without fear of being caught by Jaden's two roommates since they now knew the truth of digimon and so did Banner and two members of the Obelisk dorm.

Dai had even told them the truth about her cards being digimon and that only Digidestinds could communicate with them easily.

When that subject was up, Jaden told his cousin how his Winged Kuriboh card that Yugi gave him came to life and kept talking to him.

"Ah, this is the life. Green grass, some warm sunshine. Our own private-"Jaden was cut off by the sound of someone calling their names.

"Ja-den! Dai-suke!" it was Syrus.

"Maybe not so private." Jaden sighed as his cousin sat up, both pouting as the blue haired boy came up beside them.

"Jaden, Dai. You've both gotta come quick. Something terrible has happened." He said.

"Is there a freak trying to destroy the world?" Dai asked.

"No." he said.

"Then I don't care." She said falling back to rest.

"Trap's test? You flunked, huh?" Jaden asked as he watched his cousin rest as Renamon and V-Mon appeared.

"Actually, I got a B." Syrus said proudly.

"Sweet." V-Mon chirped as the two shared a thumbs up, but then Syrus shook his head, getting serious again.

"But…but that's not the reason I came here, guys. It's Chumley. His dad just showed up." He said.

"Yeah, so what? He raid our fridge? He couldn't be any worse than V-Mon." Jaden said.

"No, Jaden! He came here to force Chumley to drop out!" Syrus yelled making the cousins spring up in shock, their partners looking worried.

"Drop out?" the digimon asked.

"No way! Not our buddy." The Digidestinds said as they got up, Renamon and V-Mon reverting back to their In-training forms and climbing up on their partners' shoulders and the Slifer trio ran off to see what was happening.

When they got back to the dorm, they saw a group of Slifer students were surrounding the door to Banner's room, so they made their way to the front to see that the door was half open and looked in to see what was going on.

Banner was sitting his back to them as he was sitting in front of a man that looked like a body builder with Chumley's face and hair style, laughing loudly.

"No way. That's his dad?" Jaden asked.

"Looks like a body builder, huh?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah." Jaden said.

"Though, carrying around Chumley as a kid, you kinda have to be." Syrus said making the duo of Miracles bite back a their laughter as they all went back to eavesdropping.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, if Chumley was pretty good at duelling it'd be one thing…but clearly, he's not. He's wasting his time here. It's time for him to give up duelling and come home." Mr. Huffingon said.

"I see your point. Chumley is a bit, uh…" Banner trailed off with a nervous laugh.

"He's a bit dense! You can say it. That's why I want him to come home and join the family business." Huffington said slamming his fist down on the table.

"The hot sauce business. You do like hot sauce?" he asked the black haired male in front of him.

"Well, yes. I love it. Can't get enough of it." Banner said.

"Loud and clear. Here! Free sample." Huffington said lifting up a large bottle filled with the hot sauce and placed it on the table in front of them.

"Oh, no. I really couldn't." Banner said.

"Oh, yes you could. Come on. Just think of it as a goodbye gift from me and Chumley." Huffington said.

"So he's really dropping?" Syrus asked his friends.

"No, not if we can help it Syrus. Come on. We've gotta go talk some sense into him." The child of Darkness said.

The trio then walked away from the door and ran up to the Slifer boys' room to go have a talk with the oldest male.

"Chumley!" Jaden called opening the door to see their friend was packing up his stuff, his back to them.

"Hey, what're you doing, Chumley?" Jaden asked as they took off their shoes and walked into the room where the heavyset boy was on the floor packing his clothing.

"What's it look like?" Chumley asked without looking at them.

"It looks like you're giving up, like you're taking everything you worked for and throwing it away. Like you're abandoning all your dreams. All of your duelling goals and you don't even care." Jaden said grabbing his friend's shoulder, forcing him to turn around.

Dai and the boys gasped when they saw that the black haired male had a sad face as tears streamed down his face.

"Chumley?" Jaden asked backing off.

"He does care." Syrus said.

"No. I got something in my eye, OK? Both of 'em. Now just leave me alone, would ya?" he asked whipping at his tears, but they were hard to stop.

"I mean, it's not like I'm worth wasting your time on anyhow. At least, according to my dad I'm not, but he doesn't know. I really could be a champion duellist because I have a special power that I haven't told anybody." Chumley said gaining the interest of his friends.

"Sometimes Duel Monsters talk to me." He said.

"Well, did you tell this to your dad, Chumley?" Viximon asked.

"Of course not. Everything to him is just hot sauce. Hot sauce, hot sauce!" Chumley cried as Dai knelt down and wrapped her arms around her, Chibimon hopping on his head to provide comfort.

Jaden watched as he shook in rage, knowing what it was like to have a father that never understood that the things he cared for and loved wasn't worthwhile.

Seto Kaiba was a hard man to please and duelling was the only aspect of his son's life that he took interest in.

"Come on." Jaden said grabbing Chumley's hand and Dai's shoulder, pulling them both out of the door to go have a talk with Sheppard, Banner and Huffington.

Soon, all of them were in the office and the child of Darkness began pleading his oldest roommate's case so that he could stay with them.

"So, there you have it. Chumley can't be allowed to drop out. He's got a gift." Jaden said.

"Oh, sure. A gift for eating grilled cheese." Huffington scoffed making Chumley whimper as he held onto Dai's arm, taking comfort in the successor of Friendship's aura of love and protection that she gave off.

"Look, I know Chumley. I'm his roommate, not to mention his pal." Jaden said.

"Yeah, me too. What Jaden said." Syrus said.

"We're all his friends and we care about what happens to him. We're not just gonna stand and watch you take him away before he finds out his true potential." Dai said.

"Boys and girl, I respect you sticking up for your friend here, but I'm afraid that this is a personal matter. It's not your business." Sheppard said disappointed as he bowed his head while Huffington smirked.

"That's right. It's family business." He said.

"But sir…" Jaden said.

"Which is why I propose a duel." Huffington said making Chumley gasp as his grip tightened on his female friend.

"Huh?" he asked.

"That's right. Father vs. son. If you have this special gift your friends say, then you should beat me easy and I'll let you stay at the academy." Huffington said.

"But, if you lose…then…you come home." He finished.

Chumley grinned bravely, but Dai could still tell he was nervous from the grip he had on her arm and she was sure there will be bruises the next day.

"It's a deal." He agreed.

"Good, then let's duel first thing tomorrow morning. How does that sound, Chancellor?" Huffington asked.

"So be it. Tomorrow morning it will be decided. Will Chumley stay or go?" Sheppard said with a smile as he dismissed everyone, the Slifers and their teacher leaving to return to their dorm.

"See guys? What'd I tell ya? It was a piece of cake to convince Chumley's dad to let him stay at the academy." Jaden laughed with his arms crossed behind his head as Viximon sat on his head, not noticing Chumley's dark expression as he kept his grip on Dai's arm, Chibimon sitting on his head.

"Jaden, we just convinced him to a duel. Chumley still had to win if he's going to stay." Syrus said.

"Yeah, but come on. Chumley's dad doesn't know how to duel. He's an amateur." Jaden said.

"You really shouldn't jump to conclusions so fast like that, Jaden. It can lead you to trouble." Viximon said.

"She is right. Mr. Huffington's been state duelling champion three years in a row." Banner said clearing his throat making the students all stop in their tracks.

"Huh?" Syrus, Jaden, Dai and Chibimon asked while Viximon sighed.

"Why do you think he was so insistent Chumley go to duelling school? He wanted his son to be like him. Oh and wait till you see his deck." Banner said, with every word making Chumley's grip of Dai's arms tighten even more and his nails were even digging into her skin.

"As you all know, he earns a living off his special hot sauce. Well, his deck reflects the kick of his sauce. It will take you out in no turn. Like a buffalo wing takes out in one bite." Banner said.

"Oh!" Jaden and Syrus said.

"And all the morning after." The black haired teacher said making the two boys groan.

"So Chumley accepted knowing all of that?" Jaden asked.

"Judging by his using my arm as a stress ball, I'll have to say yes." Dai said making Chumley let go of her arm with a small apology.

"Chumley, you must really wanna stay then, huh?" Jaden asked as he hugged Syrus around the neck, then ran over to his cousin and other roommate, hugging all three of them.

"Come on; let's go get your deck ready, Chum." Jaden laughed as the quartet and digimon all giggled.

That night, Dai was practicing her guitar since she promised Matt that she would and was also singing a new song she heard that she liked, Chibimon dancing to it with Kazemon while the rest of the Warriors sat around talking or were doing some training of their own outside.

"_Why does it feel so good but hurt so bad?_

_Oh oh oh_

_My mind keeps saying 'Run as fast as you can!'_

_I say 'I'm done' but then pull me back_

_Oh oh oh_

_I swear you're giving me a heart attack_

_Troublemaker."_ Dai sang.

"_Maybe I'm insane 'cause I'm doing the same damn thing_

_Think one day we gonna change_

_But you know just how to work that back_

_And make me forget my name_

_What the hell you do I won't remember_

_I'll be gone until November_

_And you'll show up again next summer."_ Agunimon sang making Dai smile.

"_Yeah yeah yeah_

_Typical middle name_

_Typical middle name is Prada_

_Fit you like a glove girl_

_I'm sick of the drama_

_You're a troublemaker_

_But damn girl it's like I love the trouble_

_And I can't even explain why."_ Beetlemon sang.

The child of Miracles stopped playing and set her guitar aside for the time being as she got up to go get some fresh air.

Chibimon was right at her side, Lowemon getting up to follow her to keep an eye out on her.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to find Huffington was there at Jaden, Syrus and Chumley's room door listening in on what they were saying.

"Mr. Huffington?" she called softly making him look at her.

"You all really care for him, eh?" he asked her referring to his son.

"Well, yeah. He's our friend and pretty much like an older brother. He's a special guy and our team wouldn't feel complete without him here. We're like our very own family." She said as her dragon hopped up onto her shoulder, nodding enthusiastically to her words.

Huffington looked deep in thought as her words swept through his mind.

Finally, he turned away and left to rest up for the duel in the morning.

"_He really does care for his son."_ Lowemon said.

"I wish he'd show it better." Dai said.

"Not everyone can be as open and lovin' as Papa." Chibimon said making his partner smile at him.

Morning came and the Slifer quartet, digimon, Banner and Huffington were all gathered ready for the duel in a small dogo looking room that was at the school.

"All right. Chumley, Mr. Huffington. You both know what the stakes are for this match. If Chumley wins, he gets to stay at school, however if he loses the duel, well then…he has to go back home." Banner said as Jaden, Syrus, Dai, Renamon and V-Mon all sat on the floor behind him to watch the duel.

"That's right or my hot sauce won't chap your lips." Huffington said as V-Mon tried some of the sauce that was left in the bottle.

"It's not that bad." He said making the man scowl at him.

"Chumley, are you sure you are OK with this? Can you handle going to work with your dad's hot sauce company? Remember; chapped lips." Banner said as Renamon also tried it.

"Oh, this stuff almost packs as much of a punch as I do." She mused.

"I can handle anything I right now." Chumley said.

"Fine. Then without further ado, let's begin the duel gentlemen." Banner said.

Everyone watched as the duel went on and sadly Chumley lost the duel, making everyone grow upset.

He went back to his room and continued packing his things, his friends still upset about it all.

"Chumley, come on. You don't really have to go do you?" Syrus asked him as the Rookies stood by watching us.

"Duh, I made a promise and I'm going to keep it." Chumley said.

"Then this is really it?" Syrus asked as he sniffled with tears in his silver eyes.

"You're a good duellist, Chumley. Good luck." Jaden said holding his hand out to the teary eyed black haired boy who smiled at him.

"Same to you." He said taking it with both hands, sobbing as Dai hugged him around the shoulders with tears in her own tears as well.

"It was great having you around, buddy." She said as Syrus hugged V-Mon to him as they both cried.

"Anyway, I better get going now. There's a whole lot of hot sauce out there that needs bottling." Chumley said.

"I'm sure you'll bottle it great." The child of Darkness said.

The team all walked out the door and went down to the docks to meet up with Huffington and give their friend a proper goodbye.

"Hey Professor, where's my dad?" Chumley asked when they saw that Banner was standing there holding Pharaoh.

"Your father had to go. Something went wrong with the miles." Banner said smiling.

"Huh?" Chumley asked.

"But he left you this and wanted me to give it to you." Banner said holding up a letter and gave it to Chumley who read it and discovered that his father was allowing him to stay for the sake of his friends.

After he read it, he had tears in his eyes.

"Dad!" he yelled dropping the letter as he ran to the cliff, his friends watching him.

"Daddy! I won't let you down! I won't let any of you down! From here on out, I'm gonna make you proud of me! My family and my friends!" he swore as his friends stood at his side, looking out to the ocean to wherever Huffington was.

To be continued…


	10. Tag Duel

_Yamato-sempai and I had something we loved doing together._

_What is it you may ask._

_Simple._

_Teasing Taichi-sempai._

_One day Tai and I were at his house playing video games when Matt came over and just watched us bored and disgusted by it all._

"_I don't get how you two even like this stuff. It's so violent and mind rotting." He said as he leaned on the couch arm._

"_It is not. It helps us out in life." Tai retorted as he beat me in the game and I whined at it._

"_Oh, really? Would you care to elaborate that?" Matt asked with disbelief in his tone._

"_Sure. Gaming helps with strategies, planning. It also helps you get all your anger and frustration out, so it's actually very therapeutic and-"_

"_You just disembowelled me!" I shrieked as my guy was killed and let out a painful grunt as he fell down all bloodied and dead._

_Matt quirked an eyebrow at that._

"_Can he do that?" he asked._

"_Yes, Matt."_

"_Yes, Yamato-sempai." I said at the same time Tai said 'Matt'._

"_You know, it would sound better if you actually just called him Matt." Tai said as he paused the game._

"_But why would I do that? I mean, he is my sempai just like you, Taichi-sempai." I said confused as he had a frown on his face._

"_Yeah, well I was your sepia before he ever was." He said crossing his arms._

_Matt sighed as he slipped down onto the floor and sat behind me, wrapping his arms around me as he pulled me into his lap._

"_She can have more than one sempai you know, Tai. Cody calls Izzy Koushiro-sempai and Joe Joe-sempai. Yolei calls Mimi Mimi-sempai and Sora Sora-sempai. You're being a baby over this." He said as he rested his chin on top of my head._

_Tai kept quiet as he continued to pout._

"_Hey, why don't you just come up with something else to call me?" Matt said to me._

"_But Yamato-sempai rolls off the tongue better. What else can I call you?" I asked._

"_Oh, I don't know, Dai-chan." He drawled as Tai stiffened at the name the child of Friendship called me._

"_How about Yamato-aniki?" Matt said smirking._

_I then caught on to what he was doing and smiled joyfully._

"_Yeah, that sounds like a great name. You're more like a brother to me anyway." I said._

"_We definitely argue a lot like brother and sister. And you tease TK a lot my messing up his name." Matt said as we both smiled innocently as the child of Courage bubbled over in annoyance._

_I squealed and clapped my hands happily for effect to it all and he ruffled my bangs._

"_We're totally meant to be siblings, Yamato-aniki." I said._

"_We sure are, Dai-imouto." He said._

"_ALL RIGHT! That's enough!" Tai yelled shooting to his feet._

_We both gave him curious looks as he glared at the both of us._

"_If anyone here has the right of being called her aniki it's me. You two didn't even like each other when you first met. I just don't get how you two can act all chummy like this now." He said._

"_Taichi-sempai, we were just joking around." I said feeling kinda bad at how seriously he was taking this._

"_Chill out. You don't need to freak out." Matt said as he stood up with me in his arms and held me out to the brunette._

"_I'm always gonna be your kohai, no matter what. You're my number 1 sempai." I said to him holding my arms out with a smile, wanting a hug._

_His coffee colored eyes looked into my chocolate ones and he sighed as his anger melted away and smiled as he took me from the blonde and sat back down with me in his arms and hugged me closely to his chest._

"_I'm sorry guys. It's just that…I've always been so used to Dai-chan following me around and looking at me like…" he trailed off._

"_Like what, Taichi-sempai?" I asked unsure of where he was going with this._

"_Like I was the most important person in your life. It's selfish, I know, but I really loved that feeling that someone admired me even if I made a bunch of mistakes." He said as I returned the hug he was giving me._

_Matt smiled at us as he sat down next to us, placing a hand on Tai's shoulder._

"_I guess I would feel pretty threatned if I were in your shoes too. Sorry. But you know we only tease you about this stuff. You shouldn't take it so bad." He said._

"_Yeah, I know. It was stypid of me to act like that, but…I don't like sharing my kohai's affections." Tai said._

_I giggled as I pulled out of his arms and wrapped my arms around both boys._

"_Well, too bad because I love both Taichi-sempai and Yamato-sempai equally and that isn't changing." I said._

_The two laughed as they hugged me back, both kissing the top of my head as we shared a small group hug._

Chumley and Dai were watching Syrus and Jaden as they went over their deck and strategies for their tag team match, Renamon and V-Mon resting in the corner.

"How can you guys be so calm?" Chumley asked.

"Ha. What's not to be calm about? It's just another duel, another day. No problem. Right, Sy?" Jaden asked his blue haired friend that was then feeling anxious for the tag team match that they were going to be having that day.

"Butm duh, Jaden. It's not just another duel. It's a tag duel and if you lose it, you'll be on the next bus outta here." Chumley said.

"Hello, Chumley. That's totally why we're not gonna lose and, uh, Chumley, we're on an island. Bus?" Jaden said.

"Whatevs. You still oughta give me your meal cards just in case." The black haired boy said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." The child of Darkness muttered.

"Well, someone has to eat your grilled cheeses if you go." Chumley said.

"Dude, stop thinking about your stomach." Dai said.

"I was gonna share 'em with ya and V-Mon." Chumley said with a grin as she gave him a smirk.

"I believe in myself, Jaden." Syrus suddenly said standing up.

"Uh, that's great." Jaden said standing up and putting his deck away in my pouch.

"Well, good luck guys. I really want ya to win the match." Chumley said with a soft smile.

"More than you want the grilled cheeses?" Jaden asked as he and Syrus was almost out the door.

"I'd rather have you as friends than the extra grilled cheeses." Chumley said sincerely as Renamon opened her eyes and nudged her dragon friend to wake up.

"I think I might just cry." Jaden said.

"We'll see ya soon." Syrus said.

The two boys then walked out of the room, Renamon fading away into the shadows to follow after her partner.

"That's creepy." Chumley said.

"_You get used to it."_ Lowemon said appearing from the shadows making the boy jumped out of his bunk and fall to the floor in shock.

"Lowemon, seriously? I expect that from Agunimon." The child of Miracles said crossing her arms as she gave him a scolding look.

"_Sorry."_ He said to the startled boy.

"It's fine." He said getting up.

"_You three should be hurrying to watch the match. It would be best if you were there to cheer your friends on."_ Lowemon said.

Dai smiled at that as she gave her Warrior of Darkness a hug, then picked up V-Mon.

"Let's move, Chum!" she called as she ran out of the room.

"But I hate running!" he called back.

The female Slifer made it to the arena as the stands were filling up and she chose a seat where she could watch the duel from, V-Mon in her lap.

"Daisuke!" someone called.

She turned to see Alexis and Bastion walking over to her and joined her to watch the match.

"Hey guys." She greeted.

"That pet of yours went through a miraculous growth spurt." The Ra Yellow said as he and Alexis sat down on either side of the girl.

"Yeah, well, he pigs out a lot." Dai said making V-Mon pout at her.

"You're worried about your friends, huh?" Alexis asked.

"Well, yeah. But I have faith in them. They'll do great." Dai said smiling.

The three then watched as it started.

"Send in the accused." The male announcer said.

"Syrus Trusedale and Jaden Yuki." The announcer said as the two boys walked out, Viximon on her partner's shoulder.

Dai smiled as she watched the two boys joking around, her cousin ruffling Syrus' hair as they walked to the stage for their duel.

Jaden looked around and waved to his cousin when he spotted her, then to Chumley when he saw the heavyset guy run in.

Syrus looked around and the child of Miracles followed his stunned gaze to where he was looking and she saw that Zane was there.

Finally, Crowler came out of the crowd and walked up on the stage looking quite chipper.

"Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce our guest tag team duo!" Crowler said.

Suddenly, two bald men dressed in Chinese styled robes started doing back flips onto the stage and Dai felt despair when she saw them.

"Aw, not these guys." She groaned.

"The Paradox brothers!" Crowler crowed.

"Why these clowns? I hate them." Dai ranted.

"Why?" Alexis asked.

"They rhyme all the freaking time. How can you not hate them?" she asked the blonde.

"I've studied these guys. They're some kind of duelling mercenaries not to mention the best tag duellist in the world. This is hardly fair." The Obelisk Queen said.

"I think that was Crowler's point. Statistically speaking, I put Jaden's odds at winning this to be 1 in 50." Bastion said making the duo of Miracles shoot him the most frightening glare he had ever seen.

She already knew all about Para and Dox since her parents were the ones who defeated them at Duellist Kingdom, so she knew how powerful they were.

"Grumblemon." Dai called making Bastion give her a strange look while Alexis, who Jaden told her about what happened, understood she was talking to one of her Warriors.

"_Me here."_ Grumblemon said appearing.

"Whatever you and V-Mon had planned, do it as soon as possible. I don't care if it's in front of the entire arena, just do it." the girl said not even realizing that her chocolate brown eyes had flashed a dark gold color and her pupils had faded away, but they soon returned to normal.

"_If you wish. Me ready to make Crowler look like fool."_ The Warrior of Earth snickered as he faded away and V-Mon hopped off after him, ready to get their pranking underway.

"You're cruel." Alexis said.

"No one messes with my friends and family without paying the consequences." The Slifer female stated.

Bastion watched the two girls with a curious look, unsure of what had gone on at all while Alexis was smiling in amusement as she shook her head at the maroon haired girl.

"Duellist, prepare to battle!" Crowler called as the students got excited for the match.

"Now, the rules for the tag team duel are really quite simple. There is no sharing strategy. No sharing of advice and no sharing of any card that have not yet been put in play. You may use what's on your partner's field, understood?" the Obelisk teacher asked unaware of the sneaky dragon and gnome that were preparing his doom.

"Yeah!" the four males cried.

"Then duel!" Crowler said going to hop off the stage, only for him to trip over a string that had been pulled out in front of him.

He shrieked as he fell down onto the floor, yelping in pain as he fell flat on his face.

The students watching all laughed, a certain Warrior and dragon ran back to their Master, the girl laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.

Alexis watched the girl as she laughed and smiled at how sweet she looked as the girl fell into the blonde's side.

After the crowd all stopped laughing and calmed down, the duel started up.

The duel was long, hard and had everyone on the edge on their seats, Dai getting very nervous as she hugged her dragon to her chest in anticipation and Alexis held her a few time to comfort her, feeling compelled to do so.

Finally it all ended with the Slifer boys wining the match and Dai was jumping out of her seat, screaming in joy, V-Mon doing a few front flips as the duo of Miracles cheered.

"Well, well. They won. I'm getting more impressed every day." Bastion said with a smile.

"I'm just happy that Jaden gets to stay here." Alexi said.

"Jaden and Syrus you mean." Bastion said.

"Well, yes, Syrus too, of course. I just said Jaden because I uh…moving on." the Obelisk Queen stuttered with a blush as the Ra Yellow male, Slifer Red female and blue dragon gave her smug looks.

Dai jumped down out of the stands, shocking her two friends as she jumped, but she landed perfectly on her feet.

"Jay! Sy!" she called running over to her cousin and friends, tackling them both in a hug.

"You guys were awesome." She cheered as V-Mon came over, the yellow fox hopping up onto his head, both smiling.

"Yeah, but ten pages?! That's practically a book!" Jaden whined making his cousin give him a curious look.

"Jaden." Syrus sighed.

"My life is over." The child of Darkness whined as he hugged Dai.

"I don't even know how to spell 'Paradox brothers.' And do all their parts have to rhyme? Aw, this is gonna take forever!" he continued.

"Who cares?" Chumley called as he ran down to where the trio were, Dai patting her cousin' back with a smile as she shook her head.

"At least you're here to stay." Chumley said as the quartet hugged.

The Obelisks, Ras and Slifers all applauded them for the amazing duel they had witnessed.

"That's game!" Jaden cheered as he gave his signature pose to the roaring crowd.

To be continued…

**Sorry I didn't write the duel, but I really don't want to have to write them, plus the whole Paradox duel was just painful with all the rhyming. It was bad enough in the first season of Yu Gi Oh; but now with this? Oi. Hope you liked it and please review!**


	11. The Friendly Flames of Rivalry

Dai was sitting with V-Mon and Renamon high up in the stands as they watched the Slifer and Ra gym class playing baseball, Jaden being red hot on the field.

He was up to bat when Bastion ran in late and was given the place as pitcher.

What surprised the Digidestind and digimon was the fact that the Ra male has just thrown three balls and got the Slifer King out.

"Oh my Ra." Dai gasped as V-Mon's jaw was dropped wide open and Renamon was concerned over her partner's pride being in question.

After that, Jaden was then pitcher and kept throwing the ball so that the yellow team just walked to their bases.

"What's he doing?" V-Mon asked confused.

"He's being stupid, that's what." Dai said as she leaned back in her seat with her arms crossed.

"Huh?" her dragon asked.

"Jaden's pride has been questioned. He wants to face Bastion to settle a score between them." Renamon explained as she kept to the shadows as always.

As Bastion walked up to bat, there were flames of friendly rivalry burning from him and Jaden as the challenge was set.

Jaden didn't hold back when he threw the ball and Bastion gave the ball one hard whack with his bat, making it sail over out of the field and hit Crowler while he was walking by.

"Ohhhh!" Dai and V-Mon exclaimed at that knowing Jaden would be in trouble, but it would be worth it to know that Crowler had gotten his just deserts.

"_That was sweet!"_ Agunimon cheered as Grumblemon stood beside him with his Master's cell phone, recording what had happened.

The duo of Miracles ran down to go meet up with the Slifer duo to see what would happen next.

"Uh, heads up!" Jaden cried as Renamon appeared in the shadows watching over him, ready to attack Crowler if she needed to.

One of these days she would.

Crowler got up from the ground and the Slifer King, Queen and Syrus yelped at the cross dressing man's face, the baseball stuck in his eye.

"YOU?! Well, of course! Who else could cause such intense pain?" Crowler yelled.

"Now that's keeping your eye on the ball." Syrus said as he hugged V-Mon to him for protection.

"Sorry. It was-"Jaden said.

"My fault!" Bastion called as he ran over.

"I was the one who hit the ball." He said making Crowler look at him in shock, all trace of anger fading away.

"Of course! Here I was struggling to find a new accomplice and here smacks me right in the face. Well, the eye actually, but that's besides the point." The Obelisk teacher gushed making everyone give him strange looks while the fox's eyes glinted in anger.

"Dr. Crowler, accept my apologies." Bastion said bowing his head.

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Crolwer yelled with his arms crossed in an X in front of his chest.

"I've been meaning to have my contacts refitted for ages and now I have the perfect excuse…and perfect new protégé." He said.

"This guy's insane." V-Mon whispered.

"All right you three, you caused enough trouble! Now shoo! SHOO! SHOO!" Crowler snarled at the Slifers, the baseball falling from his eye.

"All right, but that was foul, Bastion. Bye!" Jaden called as he, his cousin, friend, partner and the dragon ran off from the teacher and Ra student.

The next day, Bastion came to the Slifer dorm to find the trio and asked them for some help as payment for bailing them out.

"All right, so it wasn't a foul, Bastion." Jaden said as the group walked to the Ra dorm, V-Mon and Viximon being carried by their partners.

"Over the center field fence usually isn't." Syrus said.

"I play like I duel." Bastion said as he showed them his bat that had writing on it.

"With formulas. See, I find that science, statistics, geometry; they play a role in everything that we do in life." He explained.

"Wow. I never looked at it that way." Jaden said.

"So you have a formula for everything, Bastion?" Syrus asked.

The black haired male laughed as he led the group to his room.

"And here we are." He said opening the door and the Slifers gasped at all of the writing that were decorating the walls and ceiling.

"And where's that?" the boys asked.

"My lab, my workshop, dorm room. That area is for traps." Bastion said pointing out one of them.

"That's for spell cards and that's, well, you get the idea."

"Dude, I am so introducing you to Izzy. He would love to meet you." Dai said as she looked around the place.

"Izzy?" he asked curiously.

"Friend of mine from my home town." She said.

"Anyway, most of these I've memorized and you see, I'm running out of room, so…" he said.

"So what?" the Slifers asked.

"So, mind helping?" Bastion asked with a grin as he pulled out a bucket and mop.

The group then got to work painting over the green walls with white paint, the digimon even helping out, Bastion watching them in interest, but shrugged it off as Jaden was working on the ceiling, standing on the very top of the ladder.

"Check it out. I'm Michelangelo." Jaden joked.

"Get it? 'Cause I'm painting on the ceiling." He said as he stumbled on the ladder and fell off, everyone watching in worry.

"Jay!" Dai cried out as Viximon hopped up.

"Viximon digivolve too…RENAMON!"

The fox jumped over and caught him in her arms, Bastion's eyes wide in shock at the sight he beheld while the brush the child of Darkness held hit Syrus in his the face.

"Are you all right?" Renamon asked her partner.

"Yeah, I'm good, Rena. Thanks." Jaden said as he stood up, smiling at his partner.

Good. Then you do realize; this means war, Jay." Syrus said as he turned to them with paint all over his face and hair.

"Now look, Sy, it was an accident!" Jaden cried as the boy picked up a bucket with the paint and threw it at the duo of Darkness, but they ducked down and the paint splattered over Bastion, Dai and V-Mon.

"It's on!" the dragon cried throwing his brush down as he pumped his fists.

A paint war was then started, but then after it was all done, the group all were covered from head to toe in paint and the room was done.

"Well, now that that's over, would you mind telling me what happened to your pets?" Bastion asked.

"How can they talk and how did they evolve?" he asked.

"We're digimon, short for digital monsters." Renamon explained being the only one who was paint free.

"We digimon are partnered to human children called the Digidestinds, like Jaden and Daisuke as you can see." The fox said.

"Dai is the child of Courage, friendship and Miracles." V-Mon explained.

"Some Digidestinds have Crests, Dai has three. Jaden has one too. He's the child of Darkness, but that power isn't evil." The dragon continued with the explanation.

"I see. That explains a lot." Bastion said as he nodded.

"Well, since we're done here, let's get cleaned up and then go eat." He said.

"Ladies first." He said nodding to Dai as she picked up her dragon and then went off to the bathroom, the boys standing guard as she showered.

After they were all done, they went off to the elaborate dining hall and were served a semi-fancy meal.

"I don't think I've ever had so much fun painting. Hey, you're all right, Bastion." Jaden said as he stuffed his face with the food.

"Yeah and so is Ra Yellow's food." Syrus said to the male as he turned to them from the chef's with a platter.

"Oh, you flatter us. But I'm sure it's not that much better than Slifer's." he said setting the lobster down on the table.

"Trust me, the closest we get to lobster is our dorm cat's breath." Jaden said.

"Yeah, normally it's me helping Banner cook a simple meal of shrimp, rice and vegies." Dai said as Renamon calming ate with her chopsticks and V-Mon stuffed his face.

"Speaking of bottom dwellers, what were you talking to Crowler about back at the game?" Syrus asked.

"Actually, he wants me to test to be in Obelisk." Bastion said as he sat down to eat with his friends.

"Are you serious?" the cousins asked.

"Is that why you were cleaning up your room?" Syrus asked.

"You're switching dorms?" the dragon and fox asked.

"Uh…" Bastion said unsure of what to say when he saw the excitement on their faces.

"Well, you deserve it. Congrates, Bastion." Jaden said.

"I'm happy that you at least worked hard for it instead of paying your way in." Dai said.

"Once again, you flatter me." Bastion said with a small blush of embarrassment.

"I saw you duel during the entrance exams. You kicked that duel proctor's butt. You'll totally pass Crolwer's test and be an Obelisk Blue." Jaden said.

"And we can say we knew you when." The Slifer males said.

"Well, thank you." Bastion said.

"You're welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me." Jaden said as the two boys went back to scarfing down their food, the two females either laughing or sighing.

"Daisuke, I just had a thought." The Ra said making her look at him.  
"What's up?" she asked.

"Those monsters in your deck. Are they…?" he trailed off.

"Yeah, they're digimon. The Legendary Warriors' spirits were turned into cards by Pegasus and the cards were given to me because they called out to me. We all bonded and I'm their…Master I guess you can say." She said turning around and lifted the back of her shirt up.

Bastion's face lit up in a bright red blush, but he shook it away when he realized that she was showing off the colorful symbols on her back.

"Each mark stands for one of the ten Warriors. The bonding was painful, but it was totally worth it to have such great guys and gals at my side." Dai explained as she tugged her shirt back into place and faced the Ra.

"I see. And you can communicate with them whenever you wish. Were one of them responsible for Crowler's…accident at the tag match?" he asked.

"That was me and Grumblemon. We're just terrible together." V-Mon snickered as his partner smiled and kissed his head.

"Yes you are but I love you guys anyway." She said.

"Hey, I just thought of something." Jaden said.

"Where are ya gonna stay when your room is drying?" he asked.

"I'm not quite sure, really." Bastion said.

"Well, I have a plan then. you're staying with us. I'm sure Chumley will be fine with it." Jaden said with a confident smile.

"I wouldn't want to be a bother." Bastion said.

"You won't be. If Jaden is fine with it, then please feel free to come with us." Renamon said.

"If you think that's a good idea." Bastion said.

After the group was done eating they all walked back to the Slifer dorm to get some sleep so that they could cheer on their Ra friend when he took his test the next day.

"Night guys." Dai called to the males and fox as she and V-Mon went into her room, the boys waving at her as she went to bed.

The next morning, Dai and V-Mon were woken by the sound of banging.

The girl growled in annoyance as she threw off her blankets and stormed over to the door and threw it open.

"I swear, if Crolwer sent another crony of his to get Jaden expelled, I am calling our family lawyer and falling a restraining order filled against him!" she raged, but it soon died away when she saw Dorothy was the one making all the noise.

"Dorothy, what're you doing here?" she asked curiously as V-Mon hopped up onto her back, looking at the woman.

"Oh, it's just terrible." The woman said sadly as Jaden opened the door, dressed in his uniform.

"Oh, what is it, Ms. Dorothy?" he asked.

"I was at the docks unloading some goods near the shore, then I saw them." She said confusing everyone.

"Cards tossed everywhere!" she exclaimed.

"Tossed?!" Jaden asked as he ran out, the others all following him, even Dai despite her underdress of only her black mid-thigh shorts and white spaghetti strapped shirt, Kazemon grabbing her SLifer jacket, socks, shoes and belt with her cards, D-3 and D-terminal.

They all made it to the lake and were shocked to see that there were mant cards floating in the water or sunk in the shallow ends.

"That's Ring of Destruction." Jaden said.

"And Force Raider." Syrus said.

"Bastion…these are all of your cards." Jaden said feeling angered that someone had done this.

"It's my own fault. This deck was in the desk I moved to the hallway yesterday when we were painting." Bastion said.

"Who would do something like this?" Syrus asked.

"Someone who doesn't want you to advance to Obelisk Blue, that's who." Jaden said as his eyes flashed dark gold and were pupil less; Renamon confused by it and wondered if she were seeing things when his eyes returned to their chocolate brown color.

"I mean, this was your deck and it's totally ruined. Oh man, what in the world are you gonna do now, Bastion?" the child of Darkness asked as he faced his friend, Syrus, Dai, Dorothy, Renamon and V-Mon all giving him questioning looks.

"Your promotion exam is in less than an hour." He said.

Bastion kept quiet as he was deep in thought, but then the group all ran off to the arena to deal with this issue.

"Bastion, you've made it." Crowler said as he and Chazz stood there waiting on him, but were frowning at the sight of the three Slifers and the over grown fox and dragon with them.

"Oh and I see you've brought some friends." Crolwe said distastefully while Chazz smirked.

"I hope you duel better than the company you keep." The black haired Obelisk said.

"This coming from the guy who lost to one of the members of this company is ironic." Dai said glaring at the male as he did the same.

"Wait a sec. Chazz is your test opponent, Bastion? Then he must be the one that tossed your cards." Jaden said as he and his cousin glared at the black haired male, their digimon hissing at the Obelisk.

"Pardon?!" Crolwer asked.

"I don't know what he's talking about Dr. Crowler. I didn't do a thing." Chazz protested.

"Oh, is that so?" a female voice asked making everyone turn to see the Kaiser and Obelisk Queen had arrived on the scene.

"Zane? Alexis?" Jaden asked.

"I saw you, Chazz. This morning by the water. You dumped them in and ran off." Alexis said making everyone but Zane gasp while Chazz started sweating.

"I normally wouldn't snitch, but you don't mess with someone's deck." Alexis said.

"Yeah, no joke. That's low for even you." The Slifer King said.

"Ah, come on. Who's to say I wasn't throwing away my own cards?" Chazz retorted.

"I guess Bastion and I just have similar decks, that's all." He said as everyone gave him disbelieving looks.

"Liar!" Jaden said.

"No one calls me a liar and no one calls me a thief!" Chazz said.

"Fine, then you're not. Let's just have our duel, shall we?" Bastion asked annoyed making the Slifer trio turn to him.

"But how?" Jaden asked.

"A good duellist always has a spare deck. Or a few of them. After all, you saw all of my different formulas." Bastion said as he started unbuttoning his yellow and white jacket.

"Well, they were for all my different duelling decks." He said opening his jacket to reveal he was wearing a vest with six different card pouches on them.

"And each one of them is as powerful as the next." He said.

"Huh? Yeah, well you can go ahead and have your six stinkin' decks 'cause all I need is this one." Chazz said as he held up his own deck to show it off.

"Now let's start this." He said.

"I thought that you would never ask, Chazz. Duel disk on." Bastion said as he pulled out his disk and chose one of his decks and placed it in the disk, ready to go.

"You're just a problem to be solved, Chazz. A theorem to be cracked. You're finished." He said.

"So bring it on." Chazz said.

"Duel!" they said.

Chazz had a metal and flame styled deck, but Bastion was using a water style and had the upper hand in the duel and soon enough he won it making his friends cheer for him.

"A well-played duel Chazz, but not well enough." Bastion said as his Water Dragon had finished the attack, the area around the black haired rich brat covered in water.

"Pure luck. You drew a lucky card and stumbled into the win. That's all." Chazz said.

"Perhaps. But luck favors the prepared and I was prepared to beat you with a half dozen other cards as well. Sorry, you would have lost the duel one way or another. But deny it if you want. Just like you denied throwing my deck into the ocean." Bastion said.

"Yeah? Prove it." Chazz said.

"Well, if you insist." Bastion said as he pulled out a card he fished from the ocean.

"Here, a card I fished out with a formula I wrote on it. I suppose you could've written it, but then the math would probably been wrong and it's not. Chazz, you stole it, you lied, you cheated, you lost. You deserve to be demoted." He said making Chazz gasp and bow his head down in frustration.

"This can't be." He said.

"Bastion Misawa, congratulations and welcome to Obelisk Blue." Crolwer said.

"No. I must decline that invitation." Bastion said shocking the teacher.

"What?! But what for?" Crowler asked.

"When I first arrived at the academy I decided I would only enter Obelisk Blue when I became the number one student of the freshmen class. Jaden, of all the new freshmen, I think that student is you and Daisuke is the second." The Ra said smiling to the cousins.

"Hey, thanks. Does that mean you wanna settle this right here? I mean, seeing you guys duel really made me wanna get my game on." The child of Darkness said.

"Sorry, but not now." Bastion said making the duel brunette pout.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because I have a lot of work to do before I duel you or Daisuke. I have many formulas to write, theorems to solve, corrections t balance. You're both good duellists, and I plan to be ready." Bastion said.

"Smart move." Jaden said as Renamon smirked.

"He didn't have to prepare for me. He won with just one day's notice." Chazz said giving the Ra a dark look.

"Don't worry. Jaden, Daisuke. Soon my dorm room walls will be filled with new strategies and we will have our duels. Just be prepared for it to turn out like that ball game. You know, the one where I struck you out." Bastion said smirking.

"Ohhh!" the duo of Miracles exclaimed.

"Keep dreaming, Bastion. Baseball's a pass time but duelling's my life. Until then pal." Jaden said.

"Right, until then it is." Bastion said.

The flames of rivalry burned around the two boys again while the others stood and watched the two boys as sparks of the challenge crackled between them.

"This oughta be good." V-Mon said.

"AAAAAAHHHHH! THAT THING JUST TALKED!" Crowler screamed and then fainted.

"Hmm. Pathetic." Renamon scoffed as she turned around with a sassy flick of her tail as Jaden laughed at his partner.

To be continued…


	12. Lost and Found

The duos of Miracles and Darkness were in class when Syrus ran in, the other students all looking at him in confusion.

"Jaden, Daisuke! It's awful. Chazz is gone." He cried running over to the two Digidestinds and stopped beside them panting.

"And that's awful how?" the cousins asked bored by that news.

"Well…gee I don't know." The blue haired boy said.

"Mm-hmm." V-Mon nodded as he and Renamon crossed their arms.

"Because he's your big duel rival?" Syrus tried.

"You're right! I need my competition." Jaden said making Dai groan.

"You know, I saw Chazz packing his stuff last night." The Obelisk boy with glasses that they saw with Chazz that first day said.

"You know why? Because he lost to that Ra." The other boy they saw said.

"Bastion, wasn't it?" glasses boy asked.

"And that Slifer Slacker too." Burly boy said.

"If you can't beat the ketchup and mustard team, good riddance." Another Obelisk said.

"What a bunch of jerks." Jaden said as he, his partner, cousin and her partner glared at them as they laughed.

"I'll tell ya, if those were the only friends I had, I'd probably run away too." He said.

"Jaden, Dai." Syrus said.

"Hmm?" they asked turning to him to see the concerned look he had.

"Well, I know Chazz has been a pain in the past, but what if he's in trouble and needs us to help him?" Syrus asked.

"Good point. The right thing to do would be to go look for him." Jaden said standing up.

"Yeah, so when should we go?" Syrus asked.

"Right now, Sy. After all, it's also a good excuse to sneak out of class." Jaden laughed as he ran out with Syrus and Renamon following him.

The ones who knew about digimon found that half the school were all very stupid if they though the cousins' pets had just grown really fast and didn't care much about it at all.

"Aren't you going to join them?" Bastion asked Dai when he saw her still in her seat.

"No way. I have a record of skipping classes and I don't want my parents to hear about me starting it up again here." she said leaning on her elbow.

She saw Alexis and two other girls get up and follow Jaden out of the room and decided it was fine for her to stay if the Obelisk Queen and her loyal followers were going to help.

"Don't you have a test?" V-Mon asked.

Dai's eyes then widened at that.

"I'm gone!" she said jumping up and pulling her dragon with her.

"Wait, what do I tell the professor?" Bastion asked standing in his seat as he watched the child of Miracles run out.

"Tell him I'm in the infirmary." She called over her shoulder as she ran out.

As soon as Dai and V-Mon were outside, the dragon digivolved and he took to the air with his partner riding him to try and spot the black haired male dressed in blue.

They searched for at least ten minutes, flying over the island and past the volcano.

"CHAZZ, YOU LITTLE TOAD! IF THIS IS SOME KIND OF TRICK, YOU BETTER HOPE THAT WE DON'T FIND YOU, YOU GOT THAT?!" someone yelled making some birds fly off in fear.

"What was that?" XV-Mon asked as they looked around for the source of who it was that yelled out in anger for the Princeton brat.

"Hey, look." Dai said when she spotted Jaden, Syrus, Renamon, Alexis and those two girls down in the forest.

"Wow, Alexis has a set of lungs." The dragon said as he swooped down to see what they were doing.

"Wait up, let's just keep the search. They'll be fine with Renamon to protect them. Let's go." Dai said.

"Whatever ya say." XV-Mon said as he took off flying through the sky.

A few minutes later they spotted one of the girls was kidnapped by monkey wearing some electrical gear and a duel disk with some men pointing guns at the monkey.

"That is weird." The dragon said sweat dropping.

"You think you can save her?" Dai asked.

"And beat the evil animal testing men?" he asked with a smirk.

The maroon haired girl nodded and hung on as the dragon swooped down and the force of the winds from his wings blasted the men back.

"What is that thing?" the black haired girl cried out in fear of the dragon.

"It's XV-Mon!" Jaden smiled.

"Renamon, get Jasmine." He said.

"As you wish." The fox nodded as she jumped over to the monkey and kicked him in the chest, knocking him back into XV-Mon's hands.

"Got cha!" he said as he landed on the ground and then broke off the cyber parts.

The monkey screeched happily as he was set down and jumped around for joy.

"Hey! How dare you break that. It was a highly sensitive device that cost thousands of dollars." One of the men yelled.

XV-Mon and Renamon both glared at the men, scaring them a bit.

"What are those creatures?" one of the men asked as a man that looked like a scientist came.

"Did you get Wheeler back?" he asked but then gaped when he saw the monkey was free standing next to the maroon haired girl as she helped the red haired girl down from the tree the monkey had her in.

"You OK?" Dai asked.

"Yeah, thanks." She said when she was on the ground again.

"Renamon, get these guys out of here!" Jaden called.

The fox jumped up high in the air and curled her body up before she extended it in a star shape and light formed as shards of light blasted out.

"DIAMOND STORM!" she cried as the shards hit the ground in front of the men making them run off.

XV-Mon smirked as he took to the air and sent out an V shaped blast of orange light.

"V Laser!" he cried as the laser hit the ground making debris shoot up and the men screamed as they continued running.

"All right!" Dai cheered.

"Awesome team work you two." Jaden said as he and his cousin high fived.

The two digimon smiled as they walked back over to their partners and the girls cowered over them.

"What are these monsters?" the black haired girl asked.

"We are digimon, digital monsters. But you need not fear us for we are peaceful creatures unless someone is threatening our human partners." Renamon explained holding up her three fingered paw.

"They really are peaceful. They've been here with Jaden and Daisuke since day one." Alexis said to her friends.

XV-Mon and Renamon both reverted back to their In-Training forms knowing those forms were cuter and less intimidating.

The two girls blinked at the two adorable creatures that they had recognized with the Slifer King and Queen many times at their duels or in class.

"Hiya!" Chibimon chirped waving at them.

"I'm Chibimon." He said.

"And I am Viximon." The fox said as she bowed her head.

It was quiet for a few moments before the two girls rushed over to the two digimon and hugged them.

"CUTE!" they cried.

"Well, I guess we can add them to the list of people who know about you two being Digidestinds now." Syrus sighed as he, Jaden, Dai and Alexis sweat dropped at the two girls cooing over the digimon.

Chibimon was giggling as he soaked up the attention, but Viximon was trying to keep herself composed so she didn't scratch out the eyes of the black haired girl hugging her.

"Can we have our partners back now?" the child of Darkness asked.

The two girls pouted, but nodded as they let the digimon go and they scurried over to their partners, jumping into their arms.

"We never really met before." Dai said.

"I'm Daisuke Motomiya, the female leader of the Digidestinds and Chosen Child of Courage, Friendship and Miracles. But you can call me Dai." She said with a smile.

"I'm Jasmine and this is Mindy." The red head said.

"Digidestinds? Female leader? What are you talking about?" Mindy asked.

"Don't worry; we'll fill you girls in. come on." Jaden said as he started to walk away and pulled out his cell phone.

"But Jaden, what about those guys from before that were chasing after the monkey?" Syrus asked as the monkey Wheeler jumped up on him.

"I'm all over that." Jaden said with a smile as he hit a number into the phone.

Within the hour the men were located and arrested for illegal experimentation on animals and were taken off the island and the two Obelisk girls were told all about the digimon and Digidestinds.

Sheppard was talking to a tall man that was dressed in a pair of jeans, black shoes, white button down shirt and had a special locket around his neck.

He also had long raven colored hair, tanned skin and deep blue eyes that had a shade of violet in them.

The Slifer trio and Obelisk girls watched as they talked and the men were taken away, boarded onto an airplane in handcuffs.

Finally, Sheppard and the man walked over to the students.

"So what's gonna happen to Wheeler?" Jaden asked.

"He'll be set free among the other animals that live on the island here." Sheppard said.

"Although I don't approve of you all skipping class, I admire that you did it to help a friend and saved an innocent animal." He said smiling at the students.

"But you all still have to write a five page essay on what you did wrong and why you did it." he said.

"Awww." The six groaned as the raven haired male laughed at their misfortune.

"Now, you four go on back to class and tell your teachers that Ms. Motomiya and Mr. Yuki will be late." Sheppard said.

"Um, OK." Syrus said confused and worried for his two friends, but they sent him a smile.

"Come on. Let's get going guys. We have Dr. Crowler this period." Alexis said as she ran off, Jasmine, Mindy and Syrus close behind them.

As soon as they were gone, the raven haired male smiled at the two Slifers and held out his arms.

"Don't I get a hug?" he teased.

Dai and Jaden laughed as they both ran into his arms and they shared a small group hug with the older male.

"Thanks for coming to help us out here, Uncle Mokuba." Jaden thanked.

Mokuba Kaiba pulled away from his nephew and niece, smiling at them as he ruffled Jaden's hair and kissed Dai's head.

"It's my pleasure. You both know I'm only one phone call away after all." He said.

"I'm still kinda shocked that the others weren't surprised that Jaden had the co-CEO of Kaiba Corp.'s number." Chibimon said.

"So how're mom and dad?" Jaden asked.

"They're both fine and very proud of your duels at the school here." Mokuba said.

"Dad said that?" Jaden asked with a hopeful tone.

Mokuba took pity on his nephew knowing that he had a very delicate relationship with his father.

"Yes, he did." He said making the child of Darkness beam.

The co-CEO looked over to his niece and narrowed his eyes in thought when he looked at her neck.

"Dai, where's your necklace?" he asked.

"What do ya mean?" she asked confused.

She reached her hand up to her neck and her eyes grew wide in horror when she didn't feel the chain or pendant there at all.

"Oh my Ra! Where is it?" she asked as she frantically looked around hoping to see a glint of gold somewhere on the grounds.

"You must have lost it when you and XV-Mon went searching the skies for Chazz." Viximon said.

Dai had tears of frustration in her eyes at the fact that she had lost something so dear to her.

Jaden hugged his cousin to comfort her.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll find it. I promise." He said.

The Slifer Queen smiled at her cousin for trying to help her feel better, but she was still shaking in fear and self-reprimanding herself for losing the pendant.

What was her mother going to say when she heard about this?

Later on at sunset, a male from Obelisk was walking down to the lighthouse to watch the sun go down and enjoy some peace for himself for now.

He stopped when a sparkle of gold caught his attention.

Curiously, he walked over to the sparkle that was in the grass and bent down to pick it up.

Opening his pale hand, he viewed a pendant that was a black gemstone with the eye of Horus on it.

"How did this get here?" he asked.

He then gently placed the necklace in his pocket before he decided to head back to his dorm and deal with returning the necklace to its owner the next day.

To be continued…


	13. Return

Dai, V-Mon and the Warriors had searched all over the island for the pendant, but couldn't find it anywhere so Dai was absolutely devastated that it was lost.

When winter break rolled around, she went back home to see her parents and friends.

Jaden, Chumley and Syrus stayed at the academy with Banner.

The duo of Miracles were in the air port waiting for her parents to come and pick her up and also trying to figure out how to tell her parents about her losing the pendant.

"Dai-kun!" a voice called breaking her from her mood when she saw a plum haired boy running over to her.

"Ken-chan!" she cried happily as she met him half way and he picked her up in a hug, spinning her around.

Some people who witnessed this awed over how sweet the two looked together like two lovers being reunited.

"Ken, what are ya doing here?" she asked pulling away from her friend as Minomon and Chibimon tackled each other in a hug.

"You're parents came to pick me up and brought me with them to get you. They're outside waiting for us right now." The child of Kindness said as he took Dai's bags from her.

She bent down and scooped up the two digimon and then the DNA partners walked off to go meet up with the Muto family.

Outside it was chilly, but still nice and sunny out.

A nice gold van was waiting for them with a beautiful blonde haired woman that had tanned skin and chocolate brown eyes.

She was dressed in a green jacket with a jean skirt and black boots.

"Momma!" Dai cried when she spotted the woman.

Josephine Wheeler Muto looked over and smiled when she saw her daughter running over to her.

"Dai-chan. Chibi." She said laughing as her daughter threw herself in her arms.

Jo looked down at her daughter in wonder as Dai's shoulder's shook and tears were falling down her cheeks.

"Hey, no cryin'. I missed ya too, baby." She said in her Brooklyn accent as Ken walked over and started placing the bags in the van as Yugi, with his tri-colored hair hidden under his black jacket's hood walked out.

"I-I'm sorry. I just missed you so much." Dai sobbed as she clung to her mother.

"Daisuke." Her father said making her look over to him and then pulled away from her mother to throw herself in her father's arms.

"Hi Daddy." Dai sniffled as Yugi patted her back.

Jo laughed as Chibimon hopped into her arms and licked her cheek, happy to see the woman again.

Minomon made his way back into his partner's arms and they watched this all go on for a few more moments before they all got into the van and Yugi drove off to Odaiba.

After twenty minutes they made it back to the apartment complex and they all got out, taking the bags upstairs to their floor.

Yes, they own the entire twenty-third floor of their building.

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home." Jo said as they walked into their flat, taking off their jackets and boots at the door.

Dai sighed as she looked around her home, joyful to be back home.

"Why didn't Jay wanna come home? Serenity was real eager to see him again." Jo said as they all walked into the kitchen.

"Some friends of ours weren't going home to see their family so Jay decided to stay with them." Dai said sitting at the island in the center of the kitchen.

"That was very considerate of him." Yugi said as he got some hot chocolate started.

"Hey, Dai, where's your necklace?" Minomon asked innocently making the girl tense up.

Jo and Yugi turned to her in surprise since she had never taken it off once.

She even had it on during all of her soccer games, cheerleading games, self-defence training and her fights in the Digital World.

The maroon haired girl looked down in misery as tears started forming.

"I'm so sorry Mom. I lost it." she said.

"Lost it? How did ya lose it?" Jo asked as she took a seat in front of her daughter and took her hands.

"W-well, ya see…this guy, he's a total jerk but he ran away from the school, so Jay, Syrus, Renamon and some other friends we made started looking for him. XV-Mon and I were flying over the island a-and I guess the claps must've just broke and it fell off without me knowing it. I-I searched everywhere but I couldn't find it." the child of miracles cried as Ken wrapped an arm around her to provide comfort to his best friend.

"Aw, baby, it's OK. I know it wasn't your fault, don't worry about it." the third best duellist in the world said.

"She's right. That necklace was about twenty years old and it's seen a series of adventures in it's time. The claps must have been worn out, that's all. We don't blame you for it." the King of Games said as he kissed his daughter's head.

Dai sniffed and smiled at her parents for being so understanding about it.

Afterwards, Ken took her to Tai and Kari's home to see them.

"I can't wait to see them again. It's been so long." Dai sighed as she hugged Chibimon to her chest.

"Yeah, I know. They'll be pretty surprised to see you." Ken said with a certain twinkle in his pretty blue eyes.

He then opened the door to the Kamiya's home and the duo of Miracles were confused by how quiet and dark it was in the apartment.

"Uh, are they not home?" Dai asked as they walked into the darkness.

"I smell cake and ice cream!" Chibimon exclaimed after sniffing the air.

Dai looked around the room as her eyes started adjusting to the room.

Suddenly, the lights were turned on and the sound of noise makers being blown startled her.

"SURPRISE!"

Dai and Chibimon smiled in their surprise when they saw all of the Odaiba Digidestinds were in the room and there were colorful streamers and balloons all over the place.

"Welcome back, Dai." Tai said.

"Taichi-sempai!" she cried running over to the original of Courage, hugging him as Kari, TK and Matt stood around them smiling.

"Hey, what about us? We helped decorate the place too, you know." Yolei said frowning with her arms crossed.

Dai laughed as she pulled away from Tai and started hugging all of her friends, Yolei being last and she took a good look at the girl.

"Are you wearing contacts?" she asked.

"Yep. What do you think?" the child of Love and Sincerity asked.

"You look great." Dai said as she hugged the taller girl.

Yolei laughed, but then had a thoughtful expression as she pulled away from the girl.

"You changed." She said.

"What do you mean?" Dai asked quirking a brow.

Kari came up beside Yolei and they both observed their leader and soon came to the conclusion of what it was.

"You have breasts!" Yolei exclaimed pointing at them making the child of Light sweat drop at that while Izzy, Joe and TK blushed at that exclamation and Ken and Cody shared a look.

"Wha-?! I've always had breasts." Dai said blushing as she crossed her arms to hide them.

"Yes, but they look a bit bigger now." Gatomon pointed out.

"Can we please change the subject?" Izzy groaned.

"Yeah, come on. Tell us all about the academy." Sora said.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with the duo of Miracles sharing stories of their time at Duel Academy, Ken being intrigued by the Kaiser of the school and Izzy by Bastion.

The day was spent with dancing, laughing and sugary goods that Matt had baked for his kohai's homecoming.

Jaden had called and told his cousin about how some Obelisk boys had brought the spirit of Ginzo, a Duel Monster to life and the child of Darkness had to beat him in a duel to save everyone.

The other Digidestinds listened in on this and were confused about it.

"Maybe we should go to this school. Something bad could happen there again." Tai said.

"Guys, you can't." Dai said making them all look at her in confusion.

"Why not? We have to help." TK said.

"He's right. There could be some evil force there and you'll need backup." Kari said concerned.

"You can't come to the island unless you're transfer student or a teacher." Dai said.

"And even if you are, you have to pass the written exam and the field test, which is a duel." Ken added in.

"And you guys know nothing about duelling." Chibimon said.

"Well, they have a point." Tentomon said.

"I guess we'll just have to let Jaden, Dai, Chibimon and Viximon handle this on their own." Joe said.

Matt and Tai were deep in thought over this, not exactly too thrilled about leaving their kohai on an island alone without any other Digidestinds to help them out and Cody could see this.

"They won't really be alone. They still have the Legendary Warriors with them." He said.

On cue, the ten Warriors all appeared in the room.

"_That's right."_ Beetlemon said.

"_No one will get to Daisuke when she has us watching out for her."_ Lobomon said.

"_And Jaden too." _Kazemon said.

"_Our young Lady Daisuke will be under the utmost care, this I swear."_ Mercurymon said with his hand over the place where his heart was.

Agunimon punched his left fist in his right palm in determination.

"_We're been watching out for her for almost five years now. We aren't going to let some creepers keep us from continuing our goal. Just let them try."_ He said.

Tai and Agumon smiled at the Warrior of Flame, nodding at him.

The female leader was also smiling as Kumamon was sitting in her lap, the icy touch of his fur comforting her.

She has always felt lucky to have her Warriors with her.

They were like her brothers and sisters that were always there for her no matter what and she loved them for it, even when the males were over doing the protective streak when it came to boys.

"I'll be fine. I survived Chimeramon and MaloMyotismon for Ra's sake and let's not forget Cherubimon and Diaboramon. Everything will be fine." She said.

"Why is it every time you say that I feel nervous?" the child of Hope teased making the maroon haired girl throw popcorn at him, which the blonde then caught in his mouth.

"Ohhh." Patamon, Chibimon and Gomamon laughed.

"Smooth, real smooth, TA." Dai said and he shrugged with a smug look as he chewed the popcorn.

Matt shook his head in amusement as he pulled Dai away from the Warrior of Ice and brought her between him and Tai, the two males hugging her.

"If you need anything, you know who to call." The original of Friendship said.

"We're your friends and we'll always be here for you." Sora said giving a motherly smile.

"I love you guys." Dai said as everyone then gathered around for a group hug.

"It's gonna be sad when we have to go back to the island without you guys." Chibimon sighed as the other digimon all hugged him too.

"We'll see you soon again." Agumon said.

After the two weeks were up, the duo of Miracles were being seen off at the Kaiba Dome where they were taking a helicopter back to the school.

"This is it." Dai said turning to them when they saw the black helicopter was parked waiting for her.

"We'll see you when you come back for spring break." Ken said hugging her.

"I love you, Dai-kun." He said.

"I love you too, Ken-chan." She said back.

"OK, leave some hugs for us. We wanna say goodbye too, ya know." Yolei said tapping her foot impatiently as the two pulled away laughing.

The Digidestinds all hugged and then Dai grabbed her bags and Chibimon, both walking over to the helicopter as the blades started spinning blowing her hair back and the snow around the ground.

"You ready to get going?" asked Tristan Taylor, her god father and mother's best friend.

"You bet." She said smiling as she got in her seat and the door closed.

The dragon hopped up to the window and waved at his friends, the others all waving and calling out their best wishes for the child of Miracles.

She blew a kiss to her friends as the helicopter left the ground and then she settled back into her seat as the ride started.

In a few hours, the helicopter landed at the academy near the lighthouse where a certain Obelisk was standing there watching the sunset.

"friend of yours?" Tristan asked over the roar of the helicopter blades.

"Sort of." Dai called back when the metal bird landed.

"Good luck out there." The man said as his god daughter hugged him from behind and he kissed her cheek.

"Thanks. Bye!" she said jumping out, then turned and waved to him as her dragon digivolved to his Rookie forms and held her bags.

Tristan nodded and then steered the helicopter off and away from the island.

"Was that your father?" the Obelisk asked as he walked over.

"Hey Kaiser." V-Mon greeted.

"Hey, and no he isn't. that's just my godfather." Dai explained.

"Huh." Zane said as he reached into his pocket.

"By the way…did you lose something?" he asked.

Dai watched with wide eyes as he pulled out a pendant with a gold chain.

"That's my…how did you…where did you find it?" she asked taking it from him.

"It was by the lighthouse a few weeks ago." He said as he watched her chocolate eyes light up in relief and pure happiness.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed hugging him.

Zane gasped at that, not used to anyone hugging him like this.

Normally girls would throw themselves at him because they claimed to be in love with him, but Dai was giving off a more peaceful and kind aura than the other girls and he allowed her to hug him since she was showing her gratitude for finding something of great importance to her.

V-Mon watched this with a smirk as Kazemon and Ranamon were silently squealing as they held each other, but Lobomon, Agunimon, Beetlemon, Grumblemon, Mercurymon and Arbormon were glaring harshly at the teal haired male as he rubbed their Master's back.

"_You better watch that hand, pal."_ The Warrior of Thunder said.

"Thank you so much for this, Kaiser." Dai said as she pulled away and looked down at her pendant.

"The clasp was pretty worn out, so I'm guessing it's from age." Zane said as he pointed it out.

"Well, it's been through a lot. I'm surprised this was only the first time I lost it. I mean, I'd wear it during all my soccer games and battles against evil digimon. Real surprise is I lost it on a normal day." She said.

"Is flying on the back of a dragon considered normal?" V-Mon asked.

"Well, see ya." Zane said walking away and soon found himself missing the warmth and pure aura the girl had around her.

"Bye Kaiser!" the duo of Miracles called waving to him and he felt his lips turn up in a small smile.

"That was nice of him." V-Mon said.

"Yeah. Now what to do to make sure I never lose it again." Dai said frowning at her necklace.

"_If I may be of some assistance."_ The Warrior of Metal said holding out his hand.

Dai handed it over without second though know that she could trust him and watched as a silver light glowed over the chain and the clasp became thicker and stronger.

Mercurymon handed it over to Lowemon as Ranamon held up Dai's hair as the Warrior of Darkness clasped the chain around her neck.

"_Now it will not break for many years to come."_ Mercurymon said.

"Thanks, Tin Man." Dai said hugging the green Warrior and he patted her head.

"_Of course. Anything for you, my Lady Daisuke."_ He said.

The Warriors all faded away as the girl and her dragon walked back to their dorm, waving to Bastion, Alexis, Mindy and Jasmine when they saw them.

When they made it to the Slifer dorm, Jaden, Chumley and Syrus were outside with Renamon watching over them from her perch in a tree.

Syrus looked up and smiled as he jumped up and started running over to the maroon haired girl.

"Big Sis!" he called making his roommates look up and smiled as they shot up and ran over too.

"Hey boys. Miss me?" Dai asked with a playful wink as the three hugged her and V-Mon joined Renamon up in the tree.

To be continued…


	14. Courting Dai

The next day the freshmen class had gym with Ms. Fontain the nurse and gym teacher, also the dorm adviser for the Obelisk girls.

"OK everyone, get your game on! Tennis game that is." Ms. Fontain laughed as the students played.

Alexis and Dai were playing against two boys while Jaden and Syrus were playing against Mindy and Jasmine.

"Dai, heads up!" Jaden called.

The maroon haired girl gasped as she turned to see that her cousin had hit the tennis ball pretty hard and it was sailing towards her.

"Daisuke!" Alexis cried out in worry, but before the Slifer girl could even duck down to dodge it, someone jumped to her rescue and hit the ball back, sending it to where Crowler was sitting in the judge chair and was hit in the face yet again.

"He just has the worse luck." V-Mon sighed from his place in the bleachers with Renamon.

"Daisuke!" Jasmine cried as Alexis, Jaden, Syrus and Mindy gathered around the girl in worry.

"Are you OK?" Mindy asked.

"I'm so sorry about that, Dai." Jaden said.

"Do you need to sit down?" Syrus asked.

"Guys, chill out. I'm fine, OK, see." Dai said to her friends and cousin, then she turned to the tall male who had saved her.

"Hey, thanks a lot." She said to him as he turned with a dazzling smile.

"Sure you don't need me to carry you to the nurse?" he asked with his brown eyes sparkling in mischief and long brown hair brushed back.

Mindy and Jasmine had hearts in their eyes as they saw the handsome male, their faces red.

"I'm good, thanks." Dai said trying not to feel offended by what he said.

The male then took a good look at the younger girl to see her caramel colored skin, short spikey maroon hair around her face and her beautiful chocolate brown eyes framed with thick black eyelashes.

The lavender gym uniform she wore was different than the other girls since she wore shorts and her sweater was opened to reveal her black spaghetti strap shirt under it and her pendant was being showed off along with her nice neck.

The male stared at her with a dreamy look and a small blush on his cheeks as he looked at her wondering who she was.

"Um, dude? You OK?" Dai asked frowning as she snapped her fingers in his face.

"No, I'm good." He laughed nervous as he scratched the back of his neck.

"It's just…I haven't seen you around Obelisk Blue before." He said.

"I'm actually in Slifer Red. I was offered to be put in Ra Yellow, but stayed to be with my friends." Dai said.

"Wow, that's really sweet of you." He said viewing her as an angel taking her hand.

Agunimon and Lobomon appeared, glaring daggers at the male's back, holding themselves back from murdering him.

"Uh, you mind?" Dai asked making him laugh nervously again as he let go of her hand and started walking back swinging his tennis racket around.

"I should get back to my game now. Hey, what was the score?" he asked running back over to his friends.

"That was weird." Alexis said as she stood next to Dai, who had a confused look on her face as Syrus and Jaden popped their heads out from behind her, watching the tall male walk away.

"JADEN!" Crowler yelled making the child of Darkness jump in shock.

The Obelisk girls and Slifer trio turned to see that the man had a very nasty black eye that Ms. Fontain was helping him out with.

"My office NOW!" the man yelled.

"Aw man." Jaden groaned as he walked off, Renamon following, making Crolwer cower away from the fox as she gave him a harsh glare.

After gym class the child of Miracles was enjoying the nice weather outside with V-Mon at her side as they walked around.

"Daisuke!" a female voice called out making the girl look over to see the Obelisk trio were walking over to her, Alexis having an annoyed look on her face.

"Hey guys. What's up?" Dai asked them.

"We found out who that hot tennis guy is for you." Mindy said.

"What? Why would you do that? I didn't even ask you to." Dai said blinking.

"I tried to get them to leave it alone, but they wouldn't listen. I'm sorry, Daisuke." The Obelisk Queen said to the Slifer Queen.

"Yeah, yeah." Jasmine said.

"Anyway, he's a total catch." Mindy said.

"Try to stay calm. His name is Harrington Rosewood, as in Rosewood Sporting Goods and they've got stores everywhere and he's the heir. Plus, he's a third year Obelisk Blue." Jasmine said.

"That's great, I guess. But I'm not interested in him." Dai said making the red head and black haired girl gasp.

"Are you insane?" Mindy asked.

"He's got the total hots for you." She insisted.

"_Well, I've got the hots too."_ Agunimon growled as he clenched his fists.

"I don't care. Besides, I know guys who are way hotter than him. I don't care much for dating anyway. The only thing I know about him is what you guys told me. Other than that, he's a total stranger." The maroon haired girl said.

"But-"Mindy said.

"Drop it." Alexis said with an anger mark on her head as she felt her protective streak for the female Digidestind grow.

"Syrus is coming and is freaking out." V-Mon said as the four girls turned to see the Slifer boy run by them a few seconds later.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man! Where's the lousy tennis team?" he said.

"What's with super spaz over there?" Mindy asked.

"Don't know, don't care." Jasmine said.

"Hey, that's my friend you're talking about so you better watch it." Dai said as she pushed her way over to her friend.

"Alexis, Big Sis, do you know where the tennis team meets?" Syrus asked.

"Out on the court, Syrus. What on earth is wrong?" Alexis asked as she came up beside Dai.

"What's wrong? Everything's wrong!" Syrus yelled running away.

"Uh, care to be more specific, Sy?" Jasmine asked with her hands on her hips.

"No questions. He'll only come back." Mindy said gaining a pinch on her cheek from Dai.

"It's the most unfair thing ever." Syrus said coming back over to the girls.

"Dr. Crolwer's letting the tennis team captain boss Jaden around for hitting him with that ball." He said running off again.

"How's that the most unfair thing ever?" Jasmine asked.

"Because the captain's the guy who really hit Crowler!" Syrus yelled.

"What?!" Dai and V-Mon asked as they ran off after him.

When they got to the court, they watched as Harrington, the guy who hit Crowler and hit on Dai, was really running poor Jaden over the top with the game and Renamon was hiding in the shadows, barring her teeth at the male.

After Jaden hit one of the balls, it rolled over to where the Obelisk and Slifer Queens were standing, the blonde picked the ball up as Dai watched her cousin lay there on the ground in exhaustion.

"Hi Alexis, Daisuke." Mindy said making Harrington turn to see that the maroon haired girl he had seen earlier that day was walking over to him.

"Daisuke?" he asked with a smile not even noticing that she was frowning at him.

"Hey there! Sorry I'm sweating so much, I've just been kicking this guy's-"Harrington trailed off when the girl walked away from him and went over to the Slifer King and gave him a hand.

"You OK there, Jay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. You know me." He said with a smile as he let her help him up.

"Hey, you're never gonna believe what Alexis just told me she heard about Chazz from Banner." She said.

"No kidding? Well, where is he?" Jaden asked as the two stood together talking as Harrington had flames of jealously burning around him.

"A benching loafer like Jaden talking to a girl like Daisuke? No way. Time to run some interference." He growled.

"Why does Dai always attract the weirdoes?" V-Mon asked as Renamon faded in beside him.

"Hey, time out!" Harrington yelled making the Slifer King and Queen turn to him in confusion.

"What in the?" Dai asked.

"You can't talk to a first time pick like Daisuke. I mean, you can't even return a buggy whip with some top spin, so stay away from my little Slifer pixie." He threatened walking over to them.

"Slifer pixie? Wonder what that would look like?" Syrus asked as he imagined the red dragon with colorful butterfly wings flying around some flowers, then groaned in disgust.

"On second thought; no I don't." he said.

"Listen Jaden, I'm warning you. Just step away from the beautiful girl. You're way out of your league. Do not make me go athletic on you." Harrington said with a demonic aura.

"Whoa, bro. Cool off. Dai and I are just talking here." Jaden said confused by what the fuss was all over.

"Now, you were saying, Dai?" he asked his cousin when the jealous Obelisk appeared in front of him, making him jump back.

"'Dai'?! What is that? Some kind of pet name? Where did it come from? What's it mean? What's it short for?" Harrington demanded in a rush.

"Um, Daisuke?" Jaden asked as if it were obvious.

"Sure, you'd like me to believe that, wouldn't you? Well, I don't. I don't believe anything you say. Which is why…" Harrington said with his grip on his racket tightening.

"This little huddle is over." He said.

"Great, so then beat it." the child of Darkness said.

"No way, bro. Know your sports. When a huddle is over, you make your play, you don't run away." Harrington said.

"I get it. You want a tennis match, right?" Jaden asked.

"No way. I want a duel. Winner becomes Daisuke's fiancé." Harrington said.

"_**WHAT?!"**_ the Warriors yelled in outrage along with V-Mon.

"Hey, whoa! You don't even get it." Dai said surprised that he had even said that.

"Slow down." Alexis said.

"Ah, I just love weddings!" Mindy gushed.

"Yeah, but I'm not so sure about arranged ones." Jasmine said.

"Well, I don't know about the stakes, but I never back down from a challenge." Jaden said.

"You are this time." Dai said grabbing the dual haired brunette and pulled him behind her.

"Listen here, Rosewood." She said making the male turn to her with a smile.

"If you wanna play this game, then play it with me. You'll duel me instead." She said making everyone gasp.

"I don't know about that…but it would be a great story to tell our kids one day." Harrington said.

"_LET ME AT HIM! LET ME KILL HIM!"_ Agunimon yelled as Beetlemon and Arbormon held him back.

"You better get ready Harrington, because I'm no push over and there will be no wedding when I win." Dai said as V-Mon walked over handing her her duel disk.

Harrington grabbed his own disk and deck as the two stood away from each other on the court.

"All right. You ready?" he asked determined to win and impress his Slifer pixie.

"Let's duel!" Dai called.

"Whoa, a total cutie pie boy duelling for Daisuke's hand in marriage. How lucky is she?" Mindy asked.

"It's kinda sad. Does Harrington even know that Jay and Dai are cousins?" V–Mon asked.

"What?!" Mindy and Jasmine asked not knowing that information.

"Service first." Harrington said as he started it off.

"I'm gonna volley a Spell Card at you. Service Ace." He said.

"A Spell Card already?" Jaden asked.

"You got that right. And just like a power serve, it's going to make you sweat." Harrington said.

"Dude, I've been playing soccer for nearly ten years now and I've done a year of cheerleading. I'm no stranger to sweat and pain." Dai said.

Harrington then thought up an image of Dai dressed in a cute pink cheerleader uniform waving pink pompoms around cheering for him, but then shook out away so he could concentrate on the duel.

"Here's how it works. I pick a card, then you have to choose if it's a Spell, a Trap or a Monster. If you guess right, you're fine, but if you guess wrong…well, then you get served with a stinging 1500 points of damage." He said drawing a card.

"Monster." Dai said shocking him.

"How'd you know?" he asked.

"Lucky guess." She shrugged.

"Go Dai-chan!" V-Mon cheered as he and Syrus waved white fans around with the three Crests on them.

"Yay Big Sis!" Syrus cheered.

"If you're done, I'll make my move now." Dai said drawing a card and smirked at the Warrior she drew.

"Hey, I wanna introduce ya to a guy I know who is the hottest thing around. Say hello to Agunimon: the Warrior of Flame!" she called playing the monster.

Flames exploded on the court as the leader of the Warriors appeared, ready to fight.

"All right, Agunimon! Harrington's in for it now." Jaden said.

"_All you punk, listen up!"_ Agunimon yelled.

"_I don't care who you think you are, but you're not worth it to be with Dai. She is a 100 on the scale and you're a 0. Get that through you're too much hair gelled head." _He said.

"Agunimon, take out his Life Points!" Dai cried as the Warrior spun around with flames swirling around his body and he kicked Harrington really hard, sending him flying back a few feet as his Life Points dropped.

"That had to hurt." Jasmine said.

"The Warriors are all protective over Daisuke and they won't let her date anyone. Harrington must have really made Agunimon mad." Alexis said with a calm look, but on the inside she was jumping around cheering the Warrior on for that move.

"Next I'll place a card face down and end my turn." Dai said smirked as she winked at her Warrior and he gave her a thumbs up.

The Obelisk boy stood up, grunting in pain from the kick his Slifer pixie's monster dealt him.

"I summon the Big Server, the reason his serve is so big is because he serves directly at your Life Points. Now, Big Server attack with Spike Serve!" Harrington called as his monster served a grenade looking ball at Dai.

"Why does everyone forget my face downs?" Dai asked as she flipped her face down up.

"Dark Reflection! It blasts your attack right back at you, destroying your monster." She said as a mirror that looked like one of the ones on Mercurymon appeared and it reflected the attack, blasting it back to Big Server.

The tennis playing monster was destroyed and it made the captain's Life Points drop yet again.

"Wow, you really play hard ball." Harrington sighed as he took out a comb and brushed his hair.

"Always do. You finished with your turn, or can I go again?" she asked.

"This is disappointing." Alexis sighed.

"What do you mean, Alexis? Aren't you glad that Daisuke is winning?" Renamon asked.

"Well, of course I am. It's just that…I heard rumours that Harrington was almost as good a duellist as Zane, but now look. Daisuke's tearing him apart like he's nothing." The blonde said.

"Maybe he's going easy on her." Jasmine suggested.

"No one can beat the Legendary Warriors. They're too strong." Jaden said making his friends look at him and saw that he looked very serious.

"And Agunimon…is the strongest of all ten." He said with narrowed eyes.

"Go on. I'm just going easy on you, but don't worry. I'll pick things up later." Harrington said.

"There won't be a later." Dai said as she drew her next card, smirking as she did so.

"Oh, really? Why is that?" he asked.

"Because I'm about to turn up the heat in here. I play the Spell Card Fusion Evolution!" she said making V-Mon, Jaden and Renamon smirk.

"This card allows me to fuse together the Human Spirit and Beast Spirit of Flame." She said as beside Agunimon appeared BurningGreymon and the flames began to dance around them.

"Now, meet the Fusioned Warrior of Flame…" Dai said as the two were covered in the flames.

Everyone except for the Master of the Warriors backed away from the fire as it grew bigger and burned brighter, the heat nearly suffocating.

Finally, the flames were thrown away with a large gust of wind from the center and there stood the new winged Warrior, ATK: 5000, DEF: 2300.

"Aldamon!" Dai called.

"_This is the end of the line for you, buddy."_ Aldamon said.

"Destroy the rest of his Life Points now!" Dai called.

Aldamon flapped his orange wings and took to the air and a small ball of fire formed in his hands and soon grew, expanding to the size of the sun.

The small audience watched this in amazement and there were even other students running to see what was going on since they were able to see the new sun from half way around the island.

"What is this?" Bastion asked joining them and blocked his eyes.

"NOW!" Dai yelled.

"_SOLAR DESTROYER!"_ Aldamon yelled as he threw the ball at Harrington.

He screamed as it came shooting right at him and he was then thrown back far away as his Life Points rapidly reached 0, signaling the Slifer Queen as the winner.

After the flames faded away, the crowd all murmured when they saw who the two duellists were, bastion amazed at the power that the child of Miracles and one of her Warriors had just displayed.

Aldamon smiled at Dai and she returned it before he faded away to rest.

The girl walked over to where Harrington was lying on his back, feeling worried that maybe he shouldn't have been exposed to that kind of power.

"You OK? You don't need to be taken to the nurse, do you?" she asked holding out her hand.

He groaned as he forced himself up and took the girl's hand.

"Nah, I'll be fine." He said as she pulled him up onto his feet.

"Good." She said then punched his arm.

"OW! What was that for?" he asked startled.

"For being a jealous moron." She said with her arms crossed as she scolded him.

"Look, if you actually listened to what I had to say, you would've known that Jaden is my cousin." She said.

Harrington paled as he took in her words, then flushed at how foolish and embarrassed he was for his stupidity.

"So…you two…" he trailed off.

"I'm really not interested in a relationship now, sorry. But it would be cool if we could be friends." Dai said smiling kindly to him as she held out her hand again.

He looked down at it, surprised that she was being so kind to him even after the mess he just made between them.

He then smiled as took her hand, making the crowd all cheer.

"We should do this again sometime. I'll guarantee that I'll win." Harrington said.

"In your dreams. I never lose. Only to a select few." Dai said with a challenging flame in her eyes.

"I'll catch ya around, Daisuke." He said waving to her as he turned away.

"He's not so bad now that he's not demanding my hand in marriage." Dai said as she watched him go, her Ra, Slifer and Obelisk friends walking over to her.

"What exactly happened here?" Bastion asked confused.

"We'll tell ya later." V-Mon said patting his leg.

Jaden then frowned in thought.

"hey, guys. I just thought of something." He said.

"What is it, Big Bro?" Syrus asked.

"Well…" the Slifer King trailed off.

"You can tell us, Jaden. Don't be afraid." Renamon said.

He then turned to his friends and cousin with an innocent smile.

"What's a fiancé?" he asked.

Everyone was then deathly quiet.

Dai laughed as they all anime fell to the ground in disbelief.

To be continued…


	15. A New What!

The Slifer trio were walking down the hallway talking with V-Mon and Renamon trailing behind them.

"Hey, what's up?" Jaden asked when they saw three Obelisk boys talking up ahead of them in the hall.

"Huh?" the males asked seeing the four Slifers before they quickly took off.

"Why, is my breath really that bad?" Jaden asked.

"Kinda." Dai joked.

"Not as bad as Grumblemon." V-Mon said making the Warrior of Earth appear and thwap him over the head.

"Lousy Obelisks. Whispering behind our backs and then strutting off." Syrus pouted.

"Duh, you guys. They're talking about the Duel Giant." Chumley said.

"Duel Giant?" the cousins asked not hearing this before.

"Yeah. Some ginormous guy who's been challenging all of the Obelisks Blue students to duels and wining. By the way, the scary part is he only comes out at midnight." The heavyset male said.

"Hey, I have heard about this. He takes their cards, too." Syrus said.

"Yeah, he makes them play with an anti. You know, when you put up your best card and if you lose, you have to hand it over." Chumley said.

"Isn't that illegal?" Renamon asked joining in on the conversation.

"Yeah, it sure is which it why he duels he disguise. You see, he wears all the blue blazers of all the Obelisks he's beaten." Chumley said as the two Digidestinds shared a look wondering if this was some trick like with the carny at the Abandoned Dorm or the real deal.

"Oh, Jaden my boy! Daisuke dear girl!" a familiar voice called.

The group all looked over to see Crowler was running over to them with a smile, actually looking happy to see them.

"_I think he's cracked, right?"_ Arbormon said as the others all gave the man disturbed looks.

"He's being nice. Something's wrong." Syrus stated hiding behind Jaden.

"How would you like to have no homework for the rest of the year, huh?" Crowler asked stunning the Slifers.

"No homework?" the child of Darkness asked as he and the others shared confused looks, unsure of what the man was doing.

"You two and Syrus. Well, if you help me that is. So, what do you say?" Crowler asked eagerly.

"All right, hold on here." Renamon said stepping in front of her partner, making the Obelisk teacher stumble back in fear of the frightening fox.

"Just what do you have planned for the children?" she asked folding her arms as her blue eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Yeah. You never were this nice to the Slifers before. What's up?" V-Mon demanded.

"Oh, all right. Here's what I want you to do. Duel and find out the identity of the Duel Giant." Crowler said.

"What?!" Chumley gasped.

"Ah, come on. We'll be fine." Jaden smiled to his friends, cousin and partner.

"We have our digimon with us for protection and Dai and I are the best duellists of our year. We can do this." He said.

"Admittedly, I've been through worse situations. I'm in." Dai caved as she smiled at her cousin and they both clasps hands.

"This guy won't dare mess with us." V-Mon said smirking up at Renamon, who returned it.

"Guess we're out numbered here." Chumley sighed.

"Oh, fine." Syrus sulked.

"Wonderful!" Crowler gushed as he walked off.

"Good luck, Slifers!" he called as he ran off.

"All right. Let's find us this dino sized duellist." Jaden said throwing a fist in the air.

"Uh, listen Jaden, is it too late to say that this is a bad idea?" Syrus asked.

"Doesn't Crowler really not like you?" Chumley asked.

"_No worries. Grumble and V will take gooooooooood care of him."_ Arbormon chuckled.

"He sure doesn't, but how can I turn down no homework, a field trip and a big duel?" Jaden said.

"By saying no?" Syrus said disheartened hoping they could still back out.

"I mean, do you even know how to say 'no'?" Chumley asked the boy who had his arms folded behind his head.

"No." Dai, V-Mon and Renamon answered.

"Aw man." Chumley and Syrus sighed.

"So how are we going to find this guy?" the bluenette asked.

"Mm-mmm." Jaden said unsure.

"Wait, so we don't even have a plan?! This is getting worse every minute." Syrus yelled.

"Then I guess we better hurry up and get started." Jaden said.

(Later on…)

The Slifers and the digimon walked into the duel stadium to see a green haired Ra Yellow boy who was Syrus' height and an Obelisk Blue boy were dueling each other.

"Jaden, if we keep taking breaks like this, we're never gonna find the Duel Giant." Syrus said as the group sat down to watch the duel.

"Really? Good." Chumley smiled in relief.

"Come on, Sy. This looks like a good duel." Jaden said.

"All right, I'll play…uh…" the Ra said as Jaden spied the cards in his hand from his place.

"Sweet. He's got Earthquake. This match is as good as over. All he's gotta do is throw down." Jaden.

"Get a move on! I'd like to get home sometime this school year!" The brown haired Obelisk yelled at the green haired boy who was shaking in anxiety.

"What's the matter Short Stack? Can't see over the cards?" another Obelisk called.

"Looks like the little baby's gonna cry. Want me to call your mom?" another called.

Dai was glaring at the boys wanting so badly to go down there and beat some sense into those jerks.

Sadly, her blue dragon was sitting on her lap, keeping her in place so she didn't carry out the violence.

"Einie, meenie…" the Ra said trying to choose which card.

"Minie, moe! Make a move! You're going way too slow!" the brunette Obelisk yelled. **(Anyone notice his hair style looks similar to Seto's or is it just me?)**

"OK. I guess I'm gonna attack with my Mad Sword Beast." The Ra said unsure.

"What?" Jaden asked making the others look at him.

The rhino monser went on to attack the swordsmen monster like the Ra said, but that wasn't going to end well.

"I activate my Face Down card! It's called Reinforcement and it hands me 500 ATK points and I think I'll give them to Miroding Captain." The Obelisk said as his monster charged at the rhino and destroyed him, making the Ra loose the duel.

"And he was so close." Jaden said.

"A classic case of stage fright." A voice said making the SLifers turn to see Bastion was there.

"Hey Bastion." Syrus greeted.

"That buy has tremendous skill, but he hasn't yet been able to handle the pressure of dueling in public like this." Bastion said as he and his friends all looked out to the green haired boy as he was on his hands and knees, a wave of defeat and humiliation hovering over him.

"I didn't think it was possible, but on his knees he's even smaller than he was before." The Obelisk said as he and his three friends all laughed.

"I think I need some glasses to see him." The other laughed.

"Better yet, a magnifying glass." Another joked as the Ra got up and started walking away.

"Or a microscope."

Lowemon appeared, sensing something off from the boy as well as Jaden when his Winged Kuriboh appeared in spirit form much like the Warriors.

"So, what's the crew up to these days?" Bastion asked his friends making them look up at him.

"We're looking for a giant." Syrus said.

"A giant?" the black haired Ra asked.

"You know, the one who's been beating all those Obelisks." The blue haired boy reminded.

"Yes, I've heard about this titan." Bastion said narrowing his gray eyes.

"Hey, speaking of. Check it out." Jaden said.

The group all looked over to see that the green haired boy was walking off to where a very tall Ra Yellow student was waiting on him.

"Seriously, I mean, just look at the size of that guy." Syrus marveled.

"Who? Beauregard? Please, he's no Duel Giant." Bastion said.

"What're talking about? He's gigantic." Syrus said making the older male laugh in amusement, the side of his jacket lifting up to reveal a very familiar light blue device that made V-Mon's eyes widen in surprise.

"But he's no duellist, Sy. He's at the academy studying to design games, not play them. I know him. He can hardly duel." Bastion said as they watched as Beauregard led the short male away, smiling encouragingly at him as they went.

"Games, huh? Oh well." Syrus said.

There was a strange noise that made Dai look over to her cousin to see that his Winged Kuriboh had come back and he was having a silent conversation with Jaden.

Jaden then stood up and started going after the two boys, Syrus and Chumley following after him as Renamon faded into the shadows to watch over him.

Dai got up and was about to follow, but V-Mon made her stop as he jumped in front of Bastion.

"Where did ya get that device?" he asked pointing at it.

Bastion followed the dragon's finger and saw that he was pointing at the new device and he unclipped it from his belt, showing it off to the duo of Miracles.

"You mean this?" he asked.

"Bastion, that's a digivice!" Dai gasped.

"A digivice?" he asked.

"The digivice belong to a Digidestind. Those kind are the old models for those who don't have armour digi eggs like Dai and Jaden." V-Mon explained.

"Tell us everything about how you found that thing." Dai said.

(At the Ra Dorms…)

Bastion was standing in front of his room door with Dai and V-Mon as he explained what had happened.

"It was during the break when I was about to return to the academy. My computer started acting strange and I assumed that it was a virus. When I tried to log in to fix it, this device came out of it. I wasn't sure what it was about, so I kept it to test it later on. Then a few days ago a large purple egg came out of my lap top." Bastion said as he opened his room door allowing the duo in.

They walked in and saw that on his desk was the large purple egg.

"It's a digi egg." V-Mon said rushing over to it and gently picked it up, frowning at how cold it felt and he huddled it close to his body to keep it warm.

"Than that confirms it. Bastion, you're a Digidestind now." Dai said facing the taller student and he looked shocked as he pulled out his digivice uncertainly.

"That can't be." He said softly.

"_Oh, it be."_ Agunimon said appearing making the black haired Ra gasped in shock and trip over his own feet, falling to the ground.

"_That further confirms thy Lady Daisuke's theory. The Ra male can see us; therefore he is a Chosen Child like she and Sir Jaden."_ Mercurymon said as he and the other Warriors appeared, Bastion looking at them all in fascination.

The girl gave them all a stern look before she sighed and gave her friend a hand up and he took it.

"So…it's true? I really am a Digidestind?" Bastion asked feeling a small swell of pride in his chest.

"Pretty much." V-mon said walking over to the humans with the digi egg.

"You need to take good care of this egg. Inside of it is your digimon partner. Keep it warm and safe until it hatches." He advised handing it over to the male, who gently took it from the dragon.

"Do you know what digimon is inside of it?" Bastion asked.

"_Not a clue."_ Ranamon shrugged.

"_You can always talk to Izzy and he'll tell you everything he knows about digimon."_ Beetlemon suggested.

"Great idea, B." Dai said as she spotted a pen and blank sheet of paper on the desk and picked them up.

She started writing down the e-mail address to contact the child of Knowledge and then handed it to Bastion.

"If you have any questions, you can ask Izzy all about it. Just say Dai told you to message him. He'll be happy to help. I can almost guarantee you guys will be great friends." She said with smile.

"If you say so, thank you." Bastion said taking the sheet.

"Let's go find Jaden and the guys before they get into trouble." Dai said making her dragon nod as the Warriors faded away.

"See ya, Bastion!" Dai called.

"Good luck!" V-Mon called as they both ran out of the room and started looking for their friends.

Bastion looked at the egg and digivice, contemplating what to do next.

He set the egg down on his bed and wrapped it up in a towel and set it on one of his pillows, hoping that it would keep it warm.

Then, he walked over to his desk and turned on his laptop.

He brought up the homepage and started typing in the address that Dai had given him and soon enough he was on the video catching link with a red haired boy with obsidian eyes.

"Oh. Who are you?" the red head asked.

"My name is Bastion Misawa." He answered.

"Ah, yes. I remember Daisuke telling us about you. You're one of her friends that know about digimon, right? Oh, I'm Koushiro Izumi by the way. Izzy for short." the boy said.

"Yes, I am and it's a pleasure to meet you. Daisuke gave me your address and said that we should have some things to discuss." Bastion said.

"What is it?" Izzy asked.

"This." Bastion said holding up his digivice making the red head gasp and nearly fall out of his seat in shock.

(With the Slifer gang…)

They had found out that Beauregard and his friend Briar, the Ra who had stage fright, were both working together as the Duel Giant to get back at the Obelisk for all of their bullying.

Jaden had duelled them and won, convincing the boys to return the cards they stole back to the Obelisks and to keep trying and never give up their dreams.

The two Ra Yellows agreed and did as they were told.

Sadly, the SLifers had to write a report since they didn't turn the Duel Giant in to Crowler and Dai told Jaden all about how Bastion was now a Digidestind just like them, to which he was excited about.

Crowler, who had been listening to them at the time, passed out in horror at having another one of those monsters on the island.

To be continued…


	16. Tarzan: King of the Egg-wich

_Jaden was sitting down at a piano and I was sitting beside him in a chair in front of our friends from Slifer and Obelisk._

_V-Mon had let it slip that we could sing and play these instruments, so they begged us to play for them._

_Jaden smiled at everyone as he started playing the keys softly and sang._

"Do you ever feel like a plastic bag

Floating through the wind wanting to start again

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin

Like a house of cards

One blow from caving in

Do you ever feel already buried deep six under scream but no seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's still a chance for you

'Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine

Just own the night

Like the 4th of July."_ He sang pausing in the playing before he started again and I joined in with the guitar._

"Easy come, easy go that's the way you live

Oh, take, take, take it all

But you never give

I should've known you was trouble from the first kiss

Had your eyes wide open

Why were they open

I gave you all I had and you tossed it in the trash

You tossed it in the trash, you did

To give me all your love is all I ever asked 'cause what you don't understand is

I would catch a grenade for you

Throw my head on a plate for you

Make them go oh oh oh

As you shoot across the sky

Baby you're a firework

Come on let your colors burst

Make them go oh oh oh

Gonna leave them going on

I would go throw all of this pain

Take a bullet straight through my brain

I would die for you baby

But you won't do the same

Cause we gonna rock this club

We gonna go on night

We goin' light it up like it's dynamite

And I told you once

And now I told you twice

We goin' light it up like it's dynamite

Cause bay you're a firework

Come on let your colors burst

I would catch a grenade for you

Throw my head on a plate for you

I would catch a grenade for you

Boom boom boom

Even brighter than the moon moon moon

I would go through all of this pain

Take a bullet straight through my brain

I would die for you baby

Cause baby you're a firework

Come on let your colors burst."

_After we finished, everyone stared in shock before they started clapping loudly._

_Jaden was an amazing singer, which most people didn't know about._

_His voice was pleasant to listen to and it was very powerful as he sang, then it was nice and soft at the last two lines._

_Aunt Ren, short for Serenity, always loved to listen to Jaden when he sang and played._

_Uncle Set also stuck around to listen, but I wasn't sure if he enjoyed it or not._

_He was a real stiff._

"Remind me again why we're out here." Dai said as she sat down at a table next to Jaden and Syrus as V-Mon and Renamon were resting in a corner and Alexis was reading a book a few feet away.

"Because, we're doing this to help out Ms. Dorothy and solve this mystery on who's been stealing the golden egg bread from the cart." Jaden answered as he and Syrus played a card game that wasn't Duel Monsters.

Dorothy had introduced the Slifers to the Draw Bread Cart where students all randomly pulled out the bread packets to see what they would get and the cousins would normally pull out the golden egg bread all the time and would share with one of their friends who would be standing with them at the time and Alexis was almost always with Dai since she loved, absolutely loved golden egg bread.

"Whatever." Dai sighed as she leaned on the table wanting to rest.

"Quiet, it's coming. Slowly…slowly…here it comes." Jaden teased making Syrus shake while Chumley just watched them.

"This one." Jaden said drawing a card then cheered.

"High card!" he said.

"Picking cards, drawing cards. Amazing." Syrus said.

"Why, thank you." Jaden smiled.

"So you think when the sandwich thief guy comes he's gonna have anything on him?" Chumley asked.

"For the last time, Chumley, he steals egg sandwiches, not grilled cheese." Jaden said.

"Would you tell him Alexis?" he asked turning to the blonde.

"It's true, Chum." She said.

"Hey, what's Lex doing over there anyhow?" Jaden whispered to his blue haired friend not knowing the reason she had volunteered herself to help them.

"I think her homework." Syrus said thinking he meant the book she held.

"Who wants some stakeout snacks?" Dorothy asked as she walked in holding a tray of rice balls.

"Here, dig in." she said setting them on the table.

"Grilled cheese?" Chumley asked hopefully as everyone stood.

"Aw, what are those?" he asked disappointed.

"My special pastries. Three kinds. We have strawberry, chocolate and lemon custard as well." Dorothy said.

"CHOCOLATE!" V-Mon cheered drooling at the sight.

"Thanks Miss Dorothy." Syrus said.

"What's most like grilled cheese?" Chumley asked getting Dai to smack him over the head.

"Drop it." she warned.

"Oh, it's right-"Dorothy was cut off by Jaden.

"We should draw and try to pick what we want. I want strawberry." He said.

"Wait, Jaden. So you want to draw pastries like cards?" Chumley asked.

"That's a good idea." Syrus said.

"Go for it, Jaden." Alexis said as she stood by watching.

"All right, wish me luck." The child of Darkness said as he grabbed one of the rice balls and brought it up, taking a bite out of it as everyone watched.

"Strawberry!" he announced showing off the red inside.

"Wow and on your first try too, Jaden, way to go." Syrus said.

"It's good to know I still got it." Jaden said as Renamon took one of the rice balls, not caring for which one she got.

"You know, for when we get the egg-wich back. I can almost taste it already." Jaden said.

"I want chocolate." V-Mon said grabbing one and took a bite then cheered as he got what he wanted.

After they had eaten, they heard a noise and quickly turned off the lights and hid.

"It's the egg-wich thief." The child of Darkness said.

They watched as the door was opened by a tall male with long hair and he walked over to the draw bread cart.

He pulled out one of the packs and smiled.

The group then opened the door.

"Now!" Jaden called making Dorothy turned the light on, making the male gasp in shock.

"Stop you thief!" Jaden yelled.

"Put the egg-wich down!" Syrus said.

Dorothy gasped when she saw the man and he then gave a Tarzan yell before he grabbed the entire cart and started running.

"Whoa. After him!" Jaden yelled as everyone gave chase.

"Wait, we'll never catch him on foot." Dai said.

"Right, let's go." Jaden said as the two pulled out their D3s.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!" they called.

"V-Mon…"

"Renamon…"

"Armour digivolve too…"

"Raidramon: the Storm of Friendship!"

"Reppamon: the Hunter of Darkness!"

Dai mounted her dragon with Alexis and Dorothy while Jaden jumped on his brown fox with Syrus and Chumley, the chase then beginning.

They followed the man to the waterfall in the forest, watching as he climbed up it.

"Who on earth is this guy?" Jaden asked as they all dismounted the dragon and fox.

"Damon!" Dorothy then called after she held down.

"You know him?" Dai asked.

"Yes, I know him and he knows better than stealing." Dorothy said as the newly identified male stopped climbing and turned to look at the woman who had a disappointed look on her face.

Damon then slipped and fell down into the lake.

A few seconds later, he surfaced and everyone ran to the edge of the lake to see him and question him, Raidramon and Reppamon growling at him as they stood at their partners' sides.

"My, you have changed." Dorothy said.

"I changed. I changed for better." Damon said.

"Not your grammar." Chumley noted.

"How do you know him, Miss Dorothy?" Reppamon asked the woman.

"Where else? From school. He used to be an Obelisk Blue." The woman said as everyone stared at the jungle man in shock.

"Boy, they really had a chill dress code back then, huh?" Jaden asked.

"No, he looked different back then. But then one day he just disappeared. I was so sad. He was one of my favorites, always visiting me at the card shack, especially on sandwich days. Oh, how he loved trying to pick out a good sandwich. Shame he was so bad at it." Dorothy sighed sadly as Raidramon pulled the former Obelisk student out of the lake and the male then sat down on a rock.

He looked a bit frightened of the two monsters, but they didn't look like they would hurt him as they stood by their humans.

"But this guy's always picking the good one. You sure this is the same person?" Jaden asked making Damon chuckle.

"Not same person. I new person now. I live in the nature. I honed my skills." He said.

"He sounds like Grumblemon." Raidramon muttered to Dai making her chuckle.

"So why'd you leave?" Jaden asked.

"I Obelisk. I test good, but when come to duel, Damon have some degree of difficulty. My draw ruin me each time. So I decide I must improve. I do everything I can think of. But no answer, nothing happened. Only waves go back and forth, back and forth. Always back and forth. Then it hit me." Damon said.

"You mean the wave hit you?" Jaden asked.

"No, it hit me. Just like I tell what came next in wave. I realize I can know next what come in cards. Pacifically be in tune with nature." Damon explained.

"This why I live out here. To train, to learn, to be at one with nature." He continued.

"_He freaks me out."_ Agunimon deadpanned.

"_He needs a shower, stat."_ Ranamon said fanning her hand and pinching her nose.

"To be at one with the draw. I get very good, but still…only one way for I to be sure; ultimate test…I draw egg-wiches. This is why I take them these pass weeks. Not because I thief." Damon cried with actual tears while Dai and her males sweat dropped and her females cried.

"Oh, brother." Raidramon, Beetlemon, Agunimon, Arbormon and Lobomon groaned.

"We understand." Dorothy said with teary eyes.

"I don't. I mean, don't get me wrong, Damon, I don't think you're a thief anymore, but…" the Slifer King trailed off.

"But?" Damon asked as he stopped crying.

"But this. I like those egg-wiches as much as the next guy, so let's duel. If I win, then you stop swiping them. If you win, they're all yours." Jaden challenged.

"Hmph. Fine, but I expert drawer. There no way you can beat me." Damon smirked rising to the challenge.

"Hey, I'm no slouch." Jaden said pumping a fist.

"It's true." Syrus said.

"He's the best I know." Chumley said as Alexis shook her head in disbelief with her hand in her hair and Dorothy smiled with her hands clasped.

It on, now let's see how quick you are on the draw." Damon said.

"All right ,Damon. Get your game on!" Jaden said.

The duel went on with everyone watching.

Damon had amazing skill and luck when it came to drawing his cards, but in the end, it was Jaden who won the duel.

"I lose?" Damon asked in shock as he fell to his knees.

"That's game." Jaden said stroking his signature pose.

"That's great, Jay." Syrus complimented.

"Good stuff." Chumley said.

"Sweet." Dai said as she and Jaden clasped hands.

"I can't believe I lost." Damon said in his normal voice punching the ground.

"I don't understand. I trained out here for a whole year." He said.

"Hey, you're speaking like a human being again." Jaden smiled as he walked over to the older male.

"Oh, I uh no get what…" Damon trailed off making the Slifer King sigh.

"Hey, it's OK, Damon. You can just be yourself." Jaden smiled at him.

"You mean I, cause I can really use a shower." Damon smiled at the group making them all laugh.

"A-and a haircut." He started crying.

"And shirt." Dorothy sniffled with tears.

"Actually, all that vine swinging got me pretty ripped so I was thinking that maybe…you know…" he trailed off as he cried and the woman kneeled down in front of him with a soft smile.

"Damon, a shirt." She said.

"Yeah." He agreed hugging the woman.

"It's egg-wich time!" Jaden cheered.

The next day, Damon was back at the academy with a haircut and he and Jaden were trying to see who would get the golden egg bread, but in a surprising turn of events, Alexis got it.

She had learned to stop focussing so much on wanting to pick that one and just calmed down, believing in herself to be happy with whichever one she got and that was how she pulled out the egg-wich.

And now Jaden and Damon had a new competitor for it since Dai quit with the egg-wich and said Alexis could take over for her since she only drew to share with the Obelisk Queen in the first place.

All in all, it was a normal day.

To be continued…


	17. The King of Imposters

_So a few weeks ago it was a normal, boring day when Bastion came to the Slifer dorm with his digi egg looking worried._

"_Whoa, Bastion. What's up?" Jaden asked sitting up from his place under our tree._

"_There's…something wrong with the egg." Bastion panted._

"_What do you mean?" Syrus asked as all of us watched as the Ra held out his egg for us to see and it was shaking._

"_Why is that thing moving?" Chumley asked._

"_It's about to hatch." Renamon announced making every one of us exclaim in wonder._

"_What?! You mean…we get to see a digimon being born?" Syrus asked._

"_That's great." I said as Bastion sat on the ground, fascination and worry etched on his face._

_A few seconds later, the shaking stopped all together before a bright light came from the egg and then a huge puff of pink smoke filled the area._

_I started coughing and so did everyone else as the smoke got into our lungs._

"_What's with the smoke?" Chumley asked._

"_It's a natural part of the hatching." Came Renamon's calm voice._

_After the smoke faded away, we all looked down at Bastion's hands and saw the Fresh level digimon._

"_It looks like a computer mouse." Jaden said._

"_That's MetalKoromon." V-Mon said._

"_MetalKoromon?" Bastion asked as he his gray eyes stared down into the adorable red eyes of the small robotic digimon._

_MetalKoromon made a squeaking noise and crawled up his partner's arm and stopped on his shoulder and then started to give Bastion's cheek little kisses._

_It was just soooo cute!_

_Aw, Ra, I just sounded like Yolei, Rana and Kaze there for a second._

"_Uh, what's he doing?" the black haired male asked a bit freaked out from the show of affection while the rest of us laughed._

"_He's your partner. And he's also a baby. They get really attached to the first thing they see after they're born." V-Mon explained._

"_It's a little weird at first, but you get used to it." Jaden advised._

"_I was freaked out when I first found V-Mon. I mean, I just met a new kid and found out he and an old friend of mine are Digidestinds and then, while we were in the computer lab, these three lights shoot out of a computer and one goes to me and it's a digivice. Then, we all get pulled into the computer and are in the Digital World. We find this weird looking egg that no one can move from the ground, but when I try it, the thing pops right off. Then this bright orange light shoots out of the ground and V-Mon appears all curled up and then he looks at me and starts jumping around me. It was a weird day for me, but after I got home, I found that I just couldn't wait to go back and see him again…even though after I met V-Mon I almost got killed by a Monochromon." I said._

_Chumley and Syrus were staring wide eyed at me while Bastion was nodding in understanding since he knew about many different digimon from Izzy and Jaden was smiling._

_Since the first day MetalKoromon was hatched, Bastion's been getting used to having the affectionate little guy around and has even come to really care for him._

_When he first brought him to class, Crowler spotted him and let out a shriek of fear before he fainted…again._

_That guy's a wimp._

The King and Queen of Slifer Red were walking together with their partners when they spotted a crowd of students all huddled together looking at something.

"Hey, what's up? Is it egg-wich day?" Jaden asked as they ran up beside Bastion who had MetalKoromon on his shoulder and smiled at his two fellow Digidestinds.

"No Jaden, just a little lunch time tussle." The Ra Yellow answered.

"A what now?" Dai asked curiously.

"A duel?" Jaden asked seeing a Ra yellow with crazy spiked black hair that was frosted with orange was dueling someone.

"Well, who's throwing down?" he asked.

"Well, the one on the left is Demetri." Bastion said.

"Never heard of him. And who's the other-Huh?" Jaden gasped when he saw the blue haired boy on the right.

"Hey, it's Syrus." Dai said making said boy look over at them.

"Hey Jaden, Dai." He greeted.

"What's going on, Sy?" Jaden asked as he and Renamon walked through the crowd until they were at the front.

"A high stakes duel. Check it out." Syrus said pointing to the posters of Yugi Muto, the King of Games and secretly the father of their own Slifer Queen, that were hung up on the wall above the food stand where Dorothy and her young worker Sandra were standing.

"Yugi's deck is going on tour and the first stop is Duel Academy. Isn't that the coolest?" Syrus asked.

Dai's eyes widened when she remembered that her father had called her about that.

She had seen his deck a thousand times, including the three Egyptian God cards that weren't going to be added into the tour in case someone steals the deck.

All heck would break loose if they were.

"Huh, well that explains it." Jaden said with a smile, but wasn't as excited as everyone else since he had seen that deck plenty of times too.

"Yeah, so if I win this-"Syrus was cut off.

"Yugi's deck here? It's a piece of history. Just imagine all it's been through." Jaden said as he gazed at his uncle's poster.

"Yeah, just think about it." Syrus smiled at the poster.

"It's the deck he took with him to Duellist Kingdom where he defeated Pegasus, the guy who invented Duel Monsters." He said.

"And where he battled Seto Kaiba in Battle City and won for the…millionth time." Dai said and smiled apologetically at her cousin when she saw his face at the mention of his father.

"And Marik." He said smiling at his cousin, showing that he forgave her.

"I know! The way he used those Egyptian God cards? Aw, man. That was so amazing! Of course, the deck's not going on tour with the Egyptian Gods, but it will have…all the other classics! I can't wait! It's gonna be the neatest thing ever. We have to go. We gotta go!" Syrus said excitedly as Dai and Jaden shared a smile at his eagerness.

"I got it, Sy. So what're you doing dueling?" the child of Darkness asked.

"Jaden, Syrus is dueling because there's only one ticket left and whoever wins gets it. Can you imagine a duel with a better prize than that?" Dorothy asked showing off the ticket.

"No, unless of course…" Dai trailed off as she pulled out four tickets.

"Unless we already had them." She said making everyone gasp in shock.

"Yeah, Dai's dad sent them to us. We already gave one to Chumley and we were looking for you and Bastion so we could give them to you in case you didn't have any yet." Jaden said.

"That's very kind of you." Bastion smiled as he walked towards them and the students watched jealously as the child of Miracles handed him one of the tickets.

"But how did Mister Motomiya acquire these?" he asked since he didn't know the truth of her parentage.

"Not telling!" she teased sticking her tongue out at him.

"Go on and finish your duel, first, Sy." Jaden said.

"OK." Syrus nodded.

Demetri was a copycat duelist and used a deck that was similar to Crowler's, but he lost anyway the duel anyway.

He was still able to get the ticket since the cousins had one for the bluenette, but Demetri was still upset about the lost.

It was worst when all the Ras and Obelisks had bad things to say about him as they walked away.

**(That night…)**

Jaden was at his desk staring at his Winged Kuriboh card, the one he had gotten from his Uncle Yugi.

Dai was also there with the guys, V-Mon resting on her lap as she rubbed his head.

"And then I said 'No you don't, Demetri 'cause I'm putting your Mechanised Maeli in reverse' like that, only cooler." Syrus said retelling his duel to Chumley.

"Right, Jay?" he asked.

"What?" Jaden asked turning to him.

"Jaden, you've been staring at your cards all right. What's up?" Syrus asked as Renamon stood at the desk next to her partner.

"I don't know, I just…have a feeling something bad is gonna happen." The child of Darkness said standing up.

"Let's go check out the place where the deck's being held." He said.

"What? Why?" Chumley asked.

"I don't know. I have a feeling…it might get stolen or something. Call me crazy, but I trust my gut on this." Jaden said determined.

"Then let's go check it out." Dai said standing up with her dragon snoring away in her arms.

"It would be cool to see them before everyone else." Syrus said.

"I got nothing better to do. Plus, we'll avoid the rush in the morning." Chumley said getting up off his bed.

The Slifer quartet then walked off into the night to the exhibit to check out the deck of the King of Games.

"You know, I didn't know he was a doctor." Came the voice of one of the guards as the two men passed by the hall the Slifers were in.

"I didn't know he was a dude." The other said as the group followed the posters of Yugi Muto down the hall to the place the deck was.

"Hurry up, Chumley." Syrus whispered to the heavyset boy as he lugged behind.

"Bastion." Jaden gasped seeing the Ra Yellow run up to them from the other side of the hall, MetalKoromon on his shoulder as always.

"Jaden, Daisuke." he said as Syrus and Chumley came up beside the cousins.

"Fancy meeting you here. Taking a sneak peek at the deck?" Bastion chuckled.

"Actually, Jaden had a feeling that something bad was going to happen." Renamon said.

Just then, someone yelled from behind the doors of the exhibit making them all turn to the doors in surprise, V-Mon being startled awake.

"Did you hear that?" Jaden asked.

"I sure did." Syrus said.

"Someone's in trouble." Chumley said.

"Let's go help her." Bastion said since the voice sounded female.

The group all ran to the doors, flinging them open and saw the display case was broken open with Crowler staring at it in horror and his look got worse when he saw the students were there.

"Crowler?" Bastion asked.

"The display case." Jaden gasped while Dai stared at it in horror because someone had actually stolen her father's deck.

"He stole Yugi's deck!" Chumley accused.

"Why'd you do it, Dr. Crowler?" Syrus asked as everyone glared at him, the digimon all snarling at him, even the Fresh level.

"No, wait! I-"Crowler said.

"Let's get Chancellor Sheppard." Jaden said as the group turned to leave.

"NO!" Crowler cried tackling the group down on the ground, all of them grunting in pain while Renamon grabbed his and held him up in a chokehold.

"Don't…ever…touch them." She snarled as her blue eyes darkened in anger.

The blonde haired man shook in fear from the fox, knowing she wouldn't hold back in harming him.

"Hey, what gives?" Jaden asked.

"I know this looks bad, but believe me, I didn't steal the deck." Crowler said.

"Then who did?" Bastion asked.

"You were the only one here, Dr. Crowler." Chumley said.

"And you let the guards off earlier than they were supposed to." Dai countered.

"And you were standing right next to the case." Syrus said.

"Plus, you attacked our humans." V-Mon said cracking his knuckles while MetalKoromon squeaked in anger.

"Then search me! Please! Go ahead! Go ahead!" Crowler said with tears in his eyes.

"_Wait, it wasn't him!"_ Lowemon said appearing making the Digidestinds and Chumley, the only normal one who could see spirits, look at him.

"What do you mean it wasn't him, Lowe?" Dai asked standing up.

"_Someone else took it and quickly left while the guards were talking with Crowler."_ The Warrior of Darkness is.

"So Crowler is innocent then." Bastion said making the teacher sigh in relief as Renamon threw him down.

"The real thief must still be outside here somewhere." V-Mon said.

"Let's get him." Jaden said.

"Lead the way, Lowemon." Dai said as Lowemon slide evolved into JaggerLowemon and allowed all of the kids to get on, even though Syrus couldn't see the Beast and took off.

Crowler watched with what he thought was his students hovering in mid-air and then they all passed through a wall.

"They just…how…" he then passed out again.

"Oh, wake up!" Renamon said kicking him and he jolted awake.

"I'll go after the others. You go tell Sheppard." V-Mon said making the fox nod as she faded off to go find the chancellor and the dragon went off to go find the others.

JaggerLowemon soon found the person who stole the legendary deck and let the kids all of as they watched the boy stood there on the rocks looking out at the water.

"So he's the one that stole Yugi's deck?" Syrus asked making the male turn around to face them.

"Stole? This is my deck. If you don't believe me, why don't you go ahead and let me show you here right now." Demetri said tossing a spare duel disk he had at Syrus to catch.

"Demetri?" Syrus asked.

"How dare you steal that deck and then claim it as your own! Forget a duel; I'll beat you within an inch of your miserable, pathetic life!" Dai yelled trying to go attack the Ra Yellow, but was held back by Bastion and Chumley.

"Calm down, Dai." The heavyset Slifer said struggling to hold the girl back as she fiercely kicked and jerked her body around to get out of the hold.

"All right ya thief, you've had your fun, but now it's over." Jaden said just as the blue dragon appeared and saw what was happening.

"Hand over the deck right now, Demetri." Jaden said.

"Ha. Demetri?" the Ra asked looking down with an amused look.

"Yeah." Jaden said.

"I'm afraid that you're mistaken. I am Yugi. Demetri's just some child who would study other people's decks and then copy them. You see, with these cards, I'm not copying the King of Games…I truly am the King of Games! And if you want this deck back, you'll have to prove I'm not!" Demetri said.

The cousins gave him a look, thinking he had completely lost his mind.

"OK, what's the name of Yugi's wife and his daughter?" Jaden asked making Demetri pause and give them a look.

"Daughter?" he asked.

"Yeah, Yugi has a daughter. Didn't you know that? I mean, the King of Games should know that he has a daughter and what her name is." Jaden pointed out.

"And what's Kaiba's son's name?" Dai asked breaking free from the hold she was in and walked up to her cousin.

"Yugi and Kaiba's children are friends, have been their entire lives. If you didn't know that, then you're not really the King of Games." The child of Miracles stated.

"I didn't know that Yugi and Kaiba had children." Syrus said making V-Mon snicker.

"You guys actually know them." The dragon said making Syrus, Chumley and Bastion look at him in shock.

"We do?" they asked.

The dragon then jabbed his thumb over to where the cousins were and their eyes grew wide in shock and surprise at the fact that they had known the children of Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba.

"No way!" Syrus gasped.

"Great Scott!" Bastion gasped.

"Totally lishious." Chumley said.

"I never back down from a challenge, so let's go for it." Jaden said.

"Good, so let's go." Demetri said.

"Beat this imposter." Dai said as she jumped back down to where her friends were, who were all staring at her in shock.

"What's up with you guys?" she asked blinking innocently.

"Nothing." The males said as V-Mon hopped into his partner's arms and they all watched the duel.

It was a powerful, long duel and when the Dark Magician of Chaos came out, Dai was nearly drooling over him, just like Syrus was drooling over Dark Magician Girl.

The duel was the most intense one anyone had ever seen, aside from the ones that the real King of Games was in that were on DVD and everyone was glued to their spots as they watched.

Finally, Jaden came out as the winner and Dai and V-Mon cheered so loud they almost made their friends go deaf just as Renamon appeared at her partner's side.

"That's game and the end of you using that deck." Jaden said giving his signature pose to the stunned male as he was lost on how he could have lost.

"I've been beaten." Demetri groaned falling to his hands and knees.

"Even with me…with Yugi's legendary cards. What's wrong with me? How can I ever win?" he cried.

"The answer to that is obvious." Came a well-known voice.

Out came Zane and Alexis, who had been watching the entire duel in secret.

"Hey, you're Zane." Demetri said in shock at the sight of the Kaiser and Obelisk Queen.

"Big Bro?" Syrus asked.

"Why're you guys here?" the Slifer King asked.

"Why else? To see the deck, but it was gone." Zane said.

"We snuck into the event hall and saw how the display case was broken into. Crowler was there and told us you guys were looking for the thief, so we looked for you." Alexis said.

"Which led us here. We saw you a while ago, but didn't want to interrupt the duel." Zane smiled.

"How kind of you." Bastion smiled.

"Wait…then…you saw it all? Me and Demetri? The whole thing?" Jaden asked.

"Not just us. Your match attracted quite a bit of attention." Zane said as he and Alexis showed that a huge crowd of students had gathered and were watching the entire duel with excitement on their faces.

"Whoa. Uh, hi. Glad you all could make it." Jaden called.

"Wow, that Jaden can duel." A Ra Yellow student said as the crowd clapped.

"Do you think he tutors? I'm failing Fusion." Another Ra said.

"What now?" Demetri asked miserably.

"Well kid, the punishment for stealing has always been crystal clear; straight up expulsion, but still, since I think pretty much everyone here enjoyed seeing Yugi's deck in a duel rather than a display case, I doubt anyone will turn you in." Zane assured.

"Don't sweat it, Demetri. But you gotta tell us, how're you so good with those Spell Casters?" A Ra asked.

"I'm failing that too." Another Ra said.

"What difference does it make? I lost." Demetri said sadly.

"You didn't lose. That person you were pretending to be did, Demetri." Jaden said.

"Yugi?" Demetri asked looking up at the duel brunette.

"Nope, you can never be Yugi." Jaden said with a smile as he scratched his nose cutely.

"Then who was I?" Demetri asked confused.

"Well, you were you, but you weren't. See, when you copy someone, it's not like you're that person. You're you copying that person. You know?" Jaden said as he held his chin in thought as he came up with a way to explain it.

"Yeah, that makes sense, right?" he asked.

"Why don't you let me attempt to interrupt for him, Demetri?" Zane offered.

"You'll never win or lose unless you put yourself out there. And that means creating your own deck and your own strategies, not piggybacking off of someone else's. After all, there is no amount of studying that you can do to be able to use someone else's deck as well as they can." The Kaiser said.

"Yeah, what Zane said.

"That's exactly what I meant. I mean, no offence, just because I beat you, doesn't mean I could beat Yugi." Jaden said as he walked over to Demetri.

"So how about we out that deck back where it belongs?" he asked.

"Yeah, OK." Demetri agreed standing up.

To be continued…


	18. Surfing

The next day the deck was placed back in the exhibit safe and sound while the Slifer quartet and Bastion were together, staring at the cousins with accusing looks.

"OK, what's up?" Jaden asked.

"Is it true?" Syrus asked.

"Is what true?" Jaden asked.

"Are you and Dai really the children of Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto?" Syrus asked.

"Where did you hear that?" Dai asked surprised.

V-Mon was whistling innocently as the cousins gave him accusing looks and Renamon sighed.

"Yeah, we really are. My real name is Judai Jaden Kaiba." The child of Darkness said.

"And my real name is Daisuke Dayna Muto." The child of Miracles said.

"We're sorry we didn't tell you guys earlier, but…well…we were never treated right just because of who our fathers are. I mean, we were constantly bullied by kids our age and older just because my dad is Kaiba and Dai's dad is Yugi." Jaden said.

"Uncle Set wasn't very happy when one day he was called and told Jaden was beaten badly by a group of kids, so he had their parents sued and put is both in various self-defence classes…you know, after Serenity stopped crying over him." Dai added in.

"That was why Chancellor Sheppard let you two have your digimon here with you? So that if anyone found out who you are, they can protect you?" Chumley asked.

"It makes sense. After all, Chazz's family aren't very fond of the Kaiba family at all, along with many other people. The perfect way to get back at Seto Kaiba would be to get to his son and niece." Bastion said.

"Pretty much." Jaden said.

"We're sorry for not telling you guys about this." Dai said as she scratched her left arm and looked down in shame.

"We totally understand if you guys don't wanna be friends anymore." Jaden said as he ruffled his own hair with a small blush in shame.

"Jaden, Dai. We're not mad. You had every right to not tell us." Syrus smiled at his friends as he ran up to them and hugged them both.

"Yeah, you guys don't have anything to worry about. We'll keep your secret." Chumley said.

"I also promise to keep this secret from the others." Bastion swore with a smile.

"Thanks you guys." Jaden said.

"You rock." Dai said as everyone was gathered into a group hug.

Bastion pulled back with a blush on his face, feeling bashful from it.

"That explains many things. Like how you got those tickets." He said.

"And how you had Mokuba Kaiba's number in your cell phone." Syrus said.

"Yep." The cousins said.

"Cool." Chumley said.

"But how are you both in Slifer?" he asked.

"Crowler doesn't know." The cousins said.

"Oh." The Ra and two Slifers said nodding.

"Well, I better go and not waste my ticket. I'll see you all later." Bastion said as he walked away, MetalKoromon squeaking happily to them all.

"Well, what do you know? Everthing's back to normal." Jaden smiled.

"As normal as everything gets around this crazy place." Chumley said making V-Mon snicker.

"No kidding." The dragon said.

The group then started walking off to go look at King of Game's deck, the bluenette and raven feeling very lucky that they knew the daughter of said King and the son of the academy's owner.

After they were finished checking out the deck and Jaden got an autographed poster for his friends, they all walked out to go back to the dorms when they were stopped by a scary sight up ahead of them.

"I've been waiting for you." Demetri said with his hair styled like Jaden's and he was even dressed as him.

"Oh no." Dai groaned.

"Demetri?! What're you doing?" Jaden asked freaked out by this.

"Who's this Demetri? My name is Jaden and I'm a Slifer Red. Now, listen! We're dueling, so turn your game on!" Demetri said making the Slifers and digimon anime fall, Renamon sighing in annoyance at that.

"It's 'get your game on'. Get it right." The child of Darkness said.

"Yeah, whatever. We'll settle it in a duel, so let's throw up. Wait, I mean…let's throw down. Let's just duel. Come on, get your deck out. This is gonna be swell." Demetri said as he did a terrible copy of Jaden's signature pose.

"It's 'sweet'! And you're not even close to doing my pose right!" Jaden yelled highly insulted.

"I am so happy I'm a girl, 'cause he can't copy me. Also because I have a one of a kind deck that have cards that aren't copied." Dai said smiling.

"Well, what's wrong?" Demetri asked about the pose.

"AH! Renamon, I normally wouldn't ask you to do this, but DO SOMETHING!" Jaden yelled.

"As you wish." Renamon said making Demetri look at the fox in shock.

"Hey, is there someone in a costume?" he asked.

"NO!" Jaden yelled.

Renamon jumped up into the air and curled her body up before she extended her limbs into a star pattern and shards of light gathered at her chest.

"DIAMOND STORM!" she cried.

Demetri cried out in fear as he dodged the attacks.

"Wow, you really lost your temper." V-Mon said.

"Well, at least he learned his lesson." Chumley said as everyone sweat dropped.

"Let's just go back to the dorm." Jaden said as he walked off sulking, Renamon following behind him.

"Poor Jaden." Syrus said watching his friend go.

"Man, never thought something like this would happen to him." Dai said as she walked off after her cousin, the two other males following after her.

"Hey, I know what'll cheer him up." She said suddenly as she ran off over to her cousin and grabbed his arm.

Syrus and Chumley watched as the girl whispered something in her cousin's ear and he straightened up in a smile before they both disappeared into their rooms.

"I wonder what she said." Syrus blinked as V-Mon sat on his back.

"We'll see." The dragon said.

A few minutes later, Jaden ran out with a surf board that was yellow and violet dressed in a pair of black swimming trunks and Dai was holding a blue and red surf board dressed in a white bikini that made her tanned skin really stand out.

"Cannon ball!" they yelled as they ran to the cliff.

Syrus and Chumley yelled in fright as they ran over to the cousins as they both jumped off of the cliff, scared that they were going to kill themselves.

Ranamon appeared and created a huge wave that picked up the air-born Digidestinds, swooping them both up as they got up on their boards and started surfing.

"That was scary." Syrus said falling to his knees sighing in relief.

Renamon walked up to them chuckling as she watched over her human.

"Go Dai!" V-Mon cheered.

Kazemon then appeared and created some nice winds that made the waves big enough for the cousins to surf on, Jaden and Dai laughing and smiling as they went.

"You guys wanna try it out?" V-Mon asked as he suddenly had two plain red surf boards in his hands that were standing up.

"Uh, I don't know." Chumley said nervously.

"I don't wanna get hurt." Syrus said.

"You have nothing to fear. We will be here to help if you are in trouble." Renamon said smiling.

"Plus Ranamon and Kazemon are out there controlling the waves and winds. They won't let you fall and get hurt." V-Mon said as Chumley saw the two female Warriors dancing around in the air and water.

"Ah, why not?" Chumley said.

Soon enough, the two boys were changed into their own swimwear and were out on the waves, having fun with the cousins.

Renamon and V-Mon were both sitting in chaises with sunglasses on and lemonade in their hands as they watched, enjoying the beautiful day.

Eventually, Jaden found Demetri and apologized to him while Dai set him straight and he never tried to be anyone else but him and became a great duellist all on his own and Demetri was now on the list of friends who knew about digimon.

To be continued…


	19. Miaden in Love part 1

All of the Slifer Red students were gathered in the small lunch room that was more like a dojo with Banner standing in front of them, trying t check their attention and for them to all settle down.

"If I could please have everyone's attention. Eyes forward, students. Chumley, stop chewing with your mouth open! You too, V-Mon!" Banner yelled as he held Pharaoh in his arms as everyone stopped talking and eating to look at their teacher.

"Good. Now please join me in welcoming a new transfer student. Blair Flannigan." He said as a boy that was just as short as Syrus walked forward in the Slifer jacket and poofy blue pants and had brown eyes and what looked to be purple or blue hair under the large green hat he wore.

Dai and Renamon were staring at the boy with narrowed eyes, namely at his chest and pretty face.

The child of Miracles had met some pretty boys in her time, but they didn't look that much like a girl as Blair did.

"I had to stop chewing for a transfer student?" Chumley asked.

"Oh man. He's smaller than me, dresses goofier than me. My sidekick gig is up." Syrus sighed with crossed arms making Jaden give him a confused look.

"Be nice." Jaden said standing.

"Judai Jaden f-ing Yuki, I swear, if you do some sort of cheer, I'll backhand you so hard your grandchildren will feel it." Dai threatened making him back down quickly.

"I was just gonna say, 'welcome to Slifer Red, Blair.'" He said nervously as Banner, Blair and everyone else stared at the Slifer royalty.

"That's very nice, Jaden, but you don't understand." Banner said.

"What's not to understand, Professor Banner? I just wanna help Blair feel at home." The child of Darkness said.

"But this isn't Blair's home, at least not for long. He scored nearly perfect on all his entrance exams" the black haired man said making everyone exclaim in wonder.

"You see, it is academy policy that all transfer students start out at Slifer, but, with his high marks, he'll be moved up to Ra Yellow within a few days." Banner explained as the boy was blushing from the attention.

"Ha, yeah right. And next you'll be saying he's gonna move into our dorm room 'cause of all the extra space. I just love this guy." Jaden said with a cute blush and smile as he gave a V sign to his friends.

"Good one." Syrus and Chumley said.

"I agree. Blair, you can stay with Jaden during your time with us." Banner said.

"Huh?!" said boy asked.

"Go on. Why don't you say 'hello' to your new roommates?" Banner said as the three boys were shocked.

"Hello." Blair said.

"Looks like you'll be staying with me for a while, Renamon." Dai said to the fox.

Later that night, Dai was in her room in a white tank top and white mini shorts that had blue dragons on them as she lay down on her bed, tossing up a soccer ball she kept with her.

V-Mon and Renamon were both curled up together in a corner, the dragon snoring away while the fox was meditating.

"_What's up, Dai?"_ Agunimon asked his Master.

"I don't know, but…there's something about that Blair kid. I think he's hiding something." She said.

"_We all have our secrets. You and Jaden especially."_ Lobomon said as he sat down on the bed.

The child of Miracles stopped tossing the ball as her chocolate eyes narrowed in thought before she sat up properly and crossed her legs under herself.

"Yeah, but we don't have any secrets that'll get us expelled." She said.

"_Expelled? What're ya talking about?"_ the Warrior of Flame asked.

The maroon haired girl kept quiet as she bit her lip, the wheels in her mind turning as she tried to figure out where she was getting this feeling from.

Lobomon sighed before he took the soccer ball out of Dai's hands and then scooped her up in his arms.

"Hey!" she protested.

The Warrior of Light paid her no mind as he pulled back her sheets and then set her down, tucking her in.

"_Just sleep. You have classes in the morning, remember that."_ He said as he waved his hand, making the light go out.

The only light in the room was the illuminated blue and red that came from the transparent forms of the two Warriors.

Their Master pouted at them and stuck her tongue out making Agunimon chuckle while Lobomon gave her s stern look.

"Fine." The girl sighed before she turned onto her side and closed her eyes.

Soon enough, her breathing slowed and she was lost in the peaceful darkness of sleep, making deep purring sounds that were her snores.

"_I swear, you could be a great dad someday, buddy." _Agunimon said with a smile as he clapped his best friend's shoulder.

Lobomon gave him a nonchalant look before he stared back down at the sleeping girl.

**(The next day…)**

All of the students of the academy were gathered for an important assembly.

"Settle down, people. Attention please. Chumley, stop chewing with your mouth open!" Sheppard said from the big screen he was conferencing on to his students.

"Good, now, the big match up against our rival school North Academy is coming up. Last year Zane, our student rep whooped them good and this year, I want to win the school duel again." Sheppard said as a spot light was shining down on the Kaiser and Blair looked over at the older male.

Syrus noticed this and talked to him.

"Hey, Blair. Did you know Zane's my brother?" he whispered into the shorter boy's ear.

"Really?" Blair asked with a small blush.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool, but Mom says I got the looks." Syrus said making Dai, who overheard it, cover her mouth to hold back her laughter.

"Now, we still haven't decided on who's going to represent us this year. So, if you keep hitting those books and dueling hard, you may be the one who gets the honor." Sheppard said ending the transmission and the assembly was over.

"All right!" Jaden cheered popping his head in between the two midgets of Slifer.

"Did you hear what he said? It could be me in this match." He said determined.

"Hey, or me, but we might as well face it, Jay. It will probably be Zane who gets the spot again." Syrus said with crossed arms as Jaden pouted and groaned in disappointment while Blair gazed longingly at the Kaiser.

"How come?" Jaden asked then took notice of his new roommate's gaze, Dai also looking at the boy with a thoughtful look.

"Because he's amazing." Blair said.

Afterwards, the group all walked out.

"Amazing? What's that got to do with it? it should be about who's best." Jaden ranted as he walked with Dai, Renamon, V-Mon, Chumley and Syrus.

"Zane did beat you in a duel, Jaden." The bluenette pointed out.

"Yeah, but it was a totally close match." Chumley said.

"I can't wait to see the sequel." The dragon said.

"That's true." Syrus said.

"Blair?" Jaden asked in wonder as they noticed the new kid who seemed to be sneaking around the campus.

"Uh, Jaden?" Syrus asked as the child of Darkness moved.

"Gotta check something out!" he called as he ran off after the new kid.

"You better go with him." Dai said to the fox who nodded and faded out of sight, watching over her human.

The Slifer Queen then started walking off as she pulled out her D-terminal and started typing in a message.

"Dai, what're you doing?" Syrus asked.

"I need to talk to a friend about something important." She called back.

Soon enough, the girl was back in her dorm room and was typing some codes into her laptop.

"OK, V-Mon, get ready." She said holding up her D-3.

"OK." The dragon said holding onto his human.

"Port open!" Dai called as she was enveloped in bright light and was pulled through the gate that was connected to another computer.

A few seconds later, she appeared out of another computer that was set up on a desk and was in the room of a tall blonde haired American boy with sky blue eyes and a happy grin on his face.

"Hey Dai, been a while." He greeted.

"Hey Willis." She said with a smile as V-Mon got down and was tackled into hugs by Terriermon and Lopmon, the child of Faith's partners.

"Did you get the message I sent you?" Dai asked as she gave her Golden Radiance partner a hug.

"You bet and I already found what you were looking for." He said pulling away and then pulled up a file that he was searching.

"Man, when Izzy said you were a genius, he wasn't kidding." V-Mon said.

"Willis always was good with computers." Terriermon said proudly about his partner.

"Here it is. Blair Flannigan. Why did you want me to find this again?" Willis asked as he sat down in his desk chair that was the type with wheels.

"Because there's something off about that kid, I just know it." Dai said standing behind him as she rested her chin on his head and her arms around his shoulders.

"Well, this is everything I got on the kid. Real smarty pants, kinda like me and Ken, huh?" Willis asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Ever since the two boys me, they had been in a constant battle of wits and attention they got from Dai.

Everyone really didn't know why they didn't get along, but just decided to leave it.

"This is perfect. Thanks, Will-kun." Dai smiled at him.

"Do I get a reward for my excellent work?" the blonde asked with a cheeky grin.

"You wish." The girl scoffed before she gathered up V-Mon, kissed Lopmon and Terriermon goodbye, then sent a wink to Willis before she was pulled into the portal and was in her bedroom again.

"Let's go find Jay and Blair." Dai said as her dragon nodded.

They both took off to look for the duo as night soon fell and they found them talking to each other under the cliff overlooking the school, Renamon fading in next to them.

"Lsiten, Jaden, the fact that I'm a girl has to stay a secret." Blair then said as the small group were carried down by the fox herself.

"But what for, Blair?" Jaden asked curiously as he took notice of his cousin, his partner and the dragon appearing.

"Look, I don't wanna blow your cover, but if I'm gonna keep a secret, I think I should at least know why it is one." He said.

"No! You don't need to know why. No one does, you got that?" Blair asked glaring at him.

"Kinda hard when you make it so obvious, missy." Dai said making the girl gasp and turn to see her.

"How did you know?" Blair asked looking at the maroon haired girl with stunned and terrified brown eyes.

"I had my suspicions and then I called a computer expert I'm friends with to dig up your file." The older girl said capturing her cousin's attention.

"Willis?" Jaden asked knowingly.

"Willis." Dai confirmed with a nod.

"Fine, but Blair." Jaden said gaining the girl's attention as Renamon faded away, then appeared again with two duel disks and handed them to her partner, who smiled in gratitude at her.

"If you're not gonna tell us why you're here, you at least have to duel one of us." The Slifer King said.

"What?" Blair asked in surprise.

"Get your game on." Jaden smiled kindly to her as he held out one of the disks.

"A duel? How will that solve anything?" she asked.

"Cause in a duel, the truth always comes out." Jaden said.

"He kinda has a point there. It's a weird, messed up system we have here, but it works." Dai said.

"Fine, but if I win, you keep quiet without me even having to explain myself." Blair said.

"Hey, this duel will tell me all I need to know." Jaden said.

"Now, pick your poison. Me or Dai. Which one will it be, Blair?" Jaden asked unaware of the guests they had who were watching this.

To be continued…

**Who will Blair pick? Jaden or Dai? We'll see next time. Don't hate me for the cliff hanger, I just wasn't sure who to choose myself. I was hoping you guys could help make that decision. Please?**


	20. Maiden in Love part 2

Dai, Jaden, Renamon and V-Mon all stood there in front of Blair, waiting for her answer on who she would choose to duel with.

Finally, the girl took in a breath and pointed at the person she chose to challenge.

"You! I'll duel you." Blair said.

The child of Miracles smiled as her cousin tossed her the second duel disk and she strapped it on and pulled out her deck.

"All right then, Flannigan. Get your game on, 'cause I'm no push over." Dai said with a smile.

"Well, Daisuke, I'm no slacker either, so you better prepare yourself, Motomiya." Blair said with a determined grin as the two girls stepped back away from each other, Jaden standing back with the two digimon to watch this duel.

"This is gonna be awesome." Jaden said.

"You're telling me." Came a familiar voice.

The duo of Darkness and dragon stiffened as they turned to see that the trio of Faith had arrived.

"Hey, Will-kun." Jaden said.

"Nice to see ya, Ju-chan." Willis greeted as he walked to stand next to the male.

"I can't believe you came. Did Dai forget to close the portal up?" Jaden asked.

"Nope, I'm a child genius. I opened it up myself and managed to come here. I've been dying to see our Dai-kun in a duel." Willis said unaware of the group watching them from on top of the cliff, one particular member of the group glaring at the blonde with cold gray eyes.

"Duel!" the two girls cried.

"All right, get ready." Blair said starting off as she drew a card with a smile and played it.

"To fall in love. I summon…Maiden in Love!" she said as a cutesy princess looking girl appeared.

"Aw, she's so pretty in a cute way." Dai said making the Maiden blush and giggle at the compliment.

"I think she likes you." Blair said.

"Well, it's my turn now." Dai said as she drew a card, feeling an electric buzz from the card and smiled.

"I play the Legendary Warrior of Thunder; BEETLEMON!" she cried as she played the monster.

Thunder boomed and lightning crackled as the Warrior appeared, slamming his fists together.

"_Yes! It's about time I get to come out and play."_ He said.

"Sorry girls, but this has to be done. Attack, Beetlemon with Thunder Fist!" Dai cried out as Beetlemon slammed down his attack, making the maiden fall to her knees and cry out in pain and fear while Blair braced herself as her life points took a hit.

"You may have broken her heart, but she lives to love another day. See, as long as she stays in ATK mode, her special ability keeps her from being destroyed." Blair explained.

"Great." Dai drawled.

Then, the area around them turned pink and yellow, looking all girly and sweet.

"_What the heck? I don't remember ordering a redesign." _Beetlemon said as he cast his green eyes around the area.

Suddenly, the Warrior walked over to where the Maiden was kneeling on the ground with tears in her eyes.

Dai, the Digidestinds and digimon watched in shock as Beetlemon knelt down by the Maiden with concern on his face.

"_Man, I'm so sorry. Are you OK?"_ he asked her.

"_Maybe, maybe not."_ Maiden said with tears.

"BEETLEMON! What in the name of Horus are you doing?!" Dai yelled.

"What just happened?" Willis asked.

"I…can't believe this." Terriermon said rapidly blinking his eyes as V-Mon's jaw was wide open.

"You see, Maiden in Love has another special ability, too. Another monster that attacks her gets a Maiden counter." Blair said as Maiden blew a pink heart at Beetlemon and it hit him in the face, much like a Monzaemon's Hearts Attack would.

"I'm afraid to ask, but what's a Maiden's counter?" the maroon haired girl groaned.

"You'll find out." Blair teased as a pink heart started thumping on Beetlemon's chest.

"Well, moving on. All right, I attach the equip spell card Cupid's Kiss to my Maiden!" Blair said as a blonde, green eyed adorable boy in a diaper and angel wings appeared in pink light around Maiden and kissed her cheek.

"And now, I'll have her attack!" Blair said as the area got all girly again as Maiden frolicked over to Beetlemon.

"_Oh, Mr. Beetlemon! Come out, come out wherever you are. I wanna give you a hug!"_ Maiden giggled as she ran over to him.

Stunned, the Warrior moved away making her trip and she looked at him appalled with tears in her eyes, cheeks flushed.

"_Why did you do that? You're so mean." _Maiden cried as Beetlemon knelt down next to her.

"_I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."_ Beetlemon said making her smile at him.

Dai watched this and felt her own eyes fill with tears, her heart constricting in heartbreak of losing one of her beloved Warriors and friends.

"_OK."_ Maiden said blowing a kiss that turned into a heart and popped in his face.

"Give me a break." Jaden and V-Mon said.

"When Lobomon and Agunimon hear about this, they are going to really release the Beast on poor Beetlemon." Lopmon sighed.

"_Now how about doing me a little favour, Mr. Beetlemon?"_ Maiden said as she was helped up.

"_Anything."_ Beetlemon gushed.

"_Good. See her? Take her down!"_ Maiden said pointing to Dai unemotionally as the Warrior looked directly at his former Master.

"_Done."_ He said as he attacked her.

When the lightning hit, she let out an ear piercing scream of undeniable pain from the attack.

"DAISUKE!" V-Mon cried trying to run over to his human as she looked to be in actual pain, but was held back by Renamon.

Dai gasped for breath as her Life Points dropped and tears fell from her eyes as she hugged herself.

"Dai…" Willis whispered as he saw her tears.

He had only ever seen her cry once before in her life and that was because she was sympathizing with his pain of losing his partner and having to fight him five years ago.

He never thought he'd see this again and it hurt him.

"Sorry, Daisuke, but when Maiden takes damage from a monster that's been pegged with a Maiden's counter, the equip stop Cupid's Kiss automatically activates and that lets me take control of your monster. Sure it cost me some points, but it's about to cost you a lot more." Blair said with a determined smile.

Dai gritted her teeth as she stared out under her bangs, her chocolate eyes flashing gold as anger surged through her.

"You…little…tramp." She snarled as she stood up.

"You think you can take away one of my monsters, my friend, my loved one and get away with it?" she demanded.

"Well, guess again." She said looking up determined.

"Whatever. Now that I've taken control of your only monster, I think I'll place a Face Down card and end my turn." Blair said trying not to back down in fear from the fire that was burning in the older girl's eyes.

"Sorry, you can' do that. I play Zephyr Sweep and it destroys your Face Down." Dai said playing the card as pink feathers blew over, destroying the card.

"And I'm far from done. I play another magic card. This one allows me to play any of my Warriors from my hand, deck or Graveyard and I'll play someone who won't fall under you petty love spell." She said.

In her deck, a pink glow came and the card slipped out from the bottom, going into its Master's hand.

"Get ready for a girl fight. Kazemon; Legendary Warrior of Wind!" she called.

There was a huge gust of wind as the beautiful female Warrior appeared, a angered look on her face.

Beetlemon gulped feeling like a man about to be put to death from the look he was getting.

"_What do you think you're doing? I can't believe you would abandoned our precious Dai-chan like that! Especially for that little hussy!"_ Kazemon yelled.

"He's dead." Jaden and Willis said.

"You tell him, Kaze!" V-Mon cheered her on.

"_I, well, uh…I mean…uh…" _the Warrior of Thunder stuttered no knowing what to say.

"GET OVER HERE BEFORE I TELL NOT ONLY AGNI AND WOLF WHAT YOU DID' BUT MATT AND TAI TOO!" Kazemon screamed making Beetelmon yelp in fear as he zoomed over to where Dai was, hiding behind her.

"What're you doing? I'm mad at you too. I was the one who was betrayed here." She said turning away from him.

"_But, Dai…I was under a spell! I'm really sorry I hurt you. Please forgive me."_ He begged.

"I'll forgive you after I destroy that Maiden. Kazemon, Tempest Twist!" Dai called.

"Gladly!" the Warrior of Wind said as she did a hand stand and started twirling around.

She kicked out with her legs creating a gale and made Maiden scream in pain as she was destroyed, taking out half of Blair's Life Points.

"No, my Maiden!" she cried.

"Blitz, help Kaze out and take out the rest of her Life points!" Dai called.

The two Warriors stood together as they blasted out their attacks, the winds pushing Blair back, her hat flying out and her long blueish hair blew in the winds as her Life Points dropped to 0.

"And that's what happens when you mess with my friends." Dai said as the two Warriors faded away, the male groaning in misery knowing he was going to be facing the others and not even the normally level headed Lowemon and Kumamon would spare him any mercy.

The younger girl fell to her knees from the attacks and Dai walked over to her.

Blair looked up, seeing the rage in the girl's chocolate eyes fade away and become friendly again.

"Word of advice; don't do that again. My Warriors mean the world to me and it's painful to lose them. You have a lot to learn about true love." She said holding her hand out to the younger girl.

Blair looked at the hand for a bit before she took the hand and was pulled up onto her feet as Syrus, Chumley, Zane and Alexis ran down after they were done watching the duel.

"All right, guess I have to tell you my secret now." Blair said.

"Nah, I learned more than enough from that duel, Blair. And I think our spetators learned a few things as well." Jaden said making the girls look over to see the Slifers, Obelisks and trio of Faith.

"Willis? When did you get here?" Dai asked as she ran over to her friend and gave him a hug even though they had seen each other not that long ago.

"Right at the beginning of the duel. That was intense. I was so worried about you." The blonde said as Blair stared at them, blushing as she saw a beautiful golden light cover them like a halo.

It was like she could really see the love they had for each other and it was amazing, pure and real.

The kind that she wanted and dreamed of since she was younger.

"We sure did learn something." Alexis smiled at Zane as he gave her a look.

"Love is on her mind, Zane." The girl said making him sigh as Blair stared at him after she tore her gaze away from the Keepers of the Golden Radiance.

"Zane, you're here. Well, then…" Blair said with a blush as everyone paid their full attention to the love struck girl.

"I guess you know. I'm the one that snuck into your dorm room, not Jaden. I've been in love with you ever since I met you." Blair said as she touched her bottom lip and the Kaiser nodded.

"At nationals." He said remembering the first time he saw the girl.

"Yeah, that's right. We met right after you won the championship match. It was then I made a pledge…that I would do anything to be with you." Blair said making everyone stare at her.

"Aw." Chumley and Syrus said blushing in awe at her confession.

"I remember you said that if I trained really really hard, then I'd get into Duel Academy like you, and I did and now that I'm here…we can get married!" she cheered making everyone sweat drop at that.

"Ha, get married! That's a good one. Your honeymoon can be in the cafeteria. Doctor Crolwer could give you away." Jaden joked.

"Who'd want that creeper to do that?" Dai said with a disgusted look making Willis laugh.

"I'm not joking." The small girl said.

"Listen sweetie, love doesn't work like that. You can't sneak your way into somebody's heart. Just look at what happened to your Maiden. She used tricks to get love and she ended up alone and in tears. You can't use spells or disguises to find your soul mate, Blair. You have to be honest and up front with them." Alexis explained.

"Yeah right! You just want Zane for yourself!" The girl accused.

"You're just trying to get rid of me!" Blair yelled glaring at the blonde as she smiled nervously.

"Zane, a little help please." Alexis called to her friend and he stepped up.

"Blair, as flattered as I am by your affections," he trailed off as Blair pushed Alexis put of the way.

"Right now I'm only in love with one thing; dueling." He said.

"Dueling?" Blair asked disappointed.

Zane reached into his pocket and pulled out a hair clip that Blair must have dropped and gave it to her.

"I'm sorry, but it's time for you to go home." He said as she had tears in her eyes.

Dai smiled and walked up to the girl, placing her hands down on her shoulder.

Blair gasped as she felt the warmth and sweet feeling of courage and friendship flowing through her from the simple touch.

She blinked her teary coffee colored eyes and stared up into the chocolate eyes.

"Don't be sad. Everything will turn out fine. One day you'll find the right guy. You just have to stop falling in love so easily. I have a friend named Yolei who did that once. She always judged people from her first opinion of them, but then she realized that she had to be more sincere with people, especially boys and it changed her for the better. Remember, love begins from friendship, you need courage to express your love and you need sincerity to find the truth in it." Dai advised.

Blair stared at her in wonder and awe while everyone stared at the child of Miracles in amazement, V-Mon feeling very lucky and proud to be her partner and one of her dear ones that she loves.

"So, do you promise to be more sincere with others and yourself?" Dai asked.

"Y-Yeah. I do." Blair said smiling at her.

"Good, I'm proud of you." Dai said gently ruffling up Blair's bangs.

Everyone smiled at this, before Jadne friowned.

"Wait, why does Blair have to go home?" he asked.

"Duh, Ju-chan. Blair's only 8. Didn't you know that?" Willis asked.

"WHA?! 8?" the child of Darkness exclaimed in shock while everyone laughed at him.

**(The next day…)**

The Flannigans had come to the academy and were taking Blair back home on the ship.

Willis, Lopmon and Terriermon had gone back home after Blair spent the night in Dai's dorm.

The Slifer royalty, Obelisk royalty, digimon, bluenette and heavyset males all waved the girl off.

"Goodbye! I'll be back just as soon as I finish grade school and middle school too. But I'll be back, you guys." Blair called to her friends.

"Ha, hear that, Zane?" Jaden teased the male who scoffed.

"Oh, please. I'll be long gone by the time she gets here." The Kaiser said making the Digidestinds and their partners laugh.

"That's true. I guess Blair's affection ends right here." Jaden said.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Zane said knowingly.

"Bye, Daisuke-sempai!" Blair called with as much passion as she could.

The Slifer Queen froze up as everyone stared at her in amusement.

"What did she just call me?" she asked.

"Look, Dai. You got a kohai!" V-Mon said tugging at her shorts.

"Yeah…I have a kohai now." Dai said.

"Didn't see that coming." She shrugged before she smiled at her new kohai.

"I'll come back for you someday and I promise I'll make you proud of me, Daisuke-sempai!" Blair called.

"See ya then, B-chan!" Dai called waving to the younger girl with a smile.

"I think you'll make a great sempai, Dai." Alexis said smiling at the shorter girl she was fond of.

"Thanks." Dai said smiling at her.

"Hey, can we get some sandwiches now? I'm hungry." Chumley said as his stomach grumbled.

"Hey, I'd have Grumblemon fetch us some, but he and the other Warriors are…busy." Dai trailed off.

"With what?" Syrus asked.

Beetlemon then screamed as he ran passed the group, the duo of Darkness, duo of Miracles and Chumley being the only ones who saw him being chased by the 9 other Warriors, some in their Beast forms.

They hadn't forgave him for his mistake last night and it just so happened that the Yin Yang twins and Agunimon were the most infuriated of them all.

"Does that answer it?" Renamon asked.

"What?" Syrus asked.

"Never mind." The fox sighed.

To be continued…


	21. Never Give Up

The Slifer quartet and Ra were relaxing by the ocean in their bathing suits, the digimon playing near them.

MetalKoromon had digivolved to his In-Training level, Kapurimon and he was playing happily with V-Mon while Renamon relaxed.

After Beetlemon had been beaten brutally, Dai had forgiven him and stayed up with him all Saturday night long, tending to him to make sure he wasn't too badly hurt by Agunimon, Lowemon and Lobomon.

While they were waiting for something to do, V-Mon let out a yelp of shock, making everyone shoot up to see what happened.

"What is that thing?" Syrus yelled at the sight of an orange lizard on top of the blue dragon.

"Agumon?" Dai asked in surprise.

"What's he doing here?" Jaden asked as the group all stood up.

"Kari opened up a portal for us of course." Agumon answered as he walked over with V-Mon who had Kapurimon on his head.

"What do you mean by 'us'?" Bastion asked.

Just then, two arms wrapped themselves around Dai's waist and she shrieked out a laugh as she was swung up into someone's arms.

"Easy there, Dai-chan!" the male said.

The boys looked as they saw the wild haired brunette with tanned skin dressed in an orange t-shirt that said 'Too Hot To Handle!' on the front with flames and a pair of jeans with black shoes.

"Taichi-sempai!" the Slifer Queen cried as she was set down properly and she nearly tackled the male to the ground in a hug.

"So that's Tai?" Chumley asked.

"Yup. Tai Kamiya, leader of the original team of DIgidestinds and first child of Courage." Jaden said with a smile.

"Oh, what are you doing here?" Dai asked pulling away from her sempai, but still clung to his arm looking very much like a child.

Bastion, Chumley and Syrus were surprised by this since she seemed to transform into a completely different person.

"I know you said you were fine here on your own, but I still just had to come see my little kohai." Tai said smiling down fondly at her.

"So, you boys know all of Jay and Dai's secrets, right?" he asked the three boys he didn't know.

"Y-Yeah. I'm Syrus Truesdale." The bluentte said.

"I'm Chumley Huffington." The heavyset male said.

"Which means you're the new Digidestind, Bastion Misawa. Izzy told all of us about you." Tai said to the last male.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, Taichi. Koushirou told me much about you." Bastion said shaking hands with the tanned 19 year old.

"Just Tai. Welcome to the digi family, dude." He said making the Ra feel very bashful.

"Come on, Taichi-sempai! Let's go. I wanna show you around the campus." Dai said bouncing in place with an adorable look on her face.

The child of Courage laughed as the girl pulled him away, V-Mon handing Kapurimon to Bastion before he and Agumon ran off after their partners.

"Wow, I've never seen Dai act like that before." Syrus blinked as Jaden laughed.

"Dai doesn't have any siblings at all and never had any friends when she was young, so when Tai and his sister Kari walked up to her and offered to be her friends, she just…they became her important people." Jaden said as he smiled at them.

**(The next day in class…)**

"For real?" the child of Darkness asked pointing to himself.

"That's right. You will duel Bastion and the victor will represent Duel Academy in the school duel against North Academy." Banner said.

Dai looked at her cousin, then their friend sitting behind them.

Jaden did the same and sent a smile to the Ra, who returned it.

"I look forward to an exciting match." Banner said.

After class ended, the Slifer Quartet were together at the desk to talk.

Tai and Agumon were staying in the Slifer dorms waiting on them to get out of class.

"All right, Jaden. You might actually be in the school duel." Syrus said.

"No Slifer's ever been there. You might make Duel Academy history." Chumley said.

"This is gonna be so awesome." Dai said.

"It will be a sight to behold." Renamon said.

Jaden chuckled as Bastion stepped down beside them, Kapurimon on his shoulder.

"Well, Bastion, I guess may the best man win, huh?" the Slifer King said.

"Best deck and I assure you, Jaden, that deck will be mine. You see, I've been formulating a new set of cards to defeat you and your monsters ever since my duel with Chazz." Bastion said.

"You said you would. So it's finished?" Jaden asked eagerly.

"Not yet, but it will be, Jaden. It will be soon." Bastion assured.

"Well, till then." Jaden said holding out his fist and the black haired male bumped fists with him.

Bastion then turned and walked up the steps, Kapurimon waving his tail at them all.

"Bastion's designed a new deck just to duel you with?" Syrus asked.

"I don't know if you should feel really honored or really scared." Chumley said.

"Well guys, guess we'll find out when we throw down." Jaden said.

Afterwards, the Slifer quartet walked off and saw the duo of Courage was waiting for them in the halls wearing a spare Obelisk jacket that Sheppard gave him to wear while he was there.

"Looking good, Tai." Jaden said.

"Thanks. So, what's the up?" Tai asked as Dai clung to his arm and they walked down the halls, the maroon haired girl telling him all about the school duel.

While they walked down the hall, they saw a SLifer Red they never saw before talking to some of the students, who were freaked out by him.

"Beat it, Slifer Sludge." A Ra Yellow said walking away.

"Man, why won't anyone talk to me?" the new Slifer that looked way too old to be in school said.

"I don't remember seeing that guy around. He must be new." Syrus said as Renamon narrowed her eyes in distrust, grabbing the two male digimon and faded off with them while the three Digidestinds walked over to the black haired male.

"Hey, what's up?" Jaden asked startling the male as he turned to see the Slifers and who he thought was an Obelisk because of the jacket.

Three pairs of brown eyes narrowed at him as the man laughed nervously.

"You're old. Really old. How can you be a Slifer?" the duel brunette said.

"I, uh…" the man said.

"Hey, it's cool." Jaden said friendly slapping his should and taking his hand.

"I mean, so it took you a while to get accepted here. Don't be ashamed. Let me show you around, old timer." He said pulling the man along with him, the two Digi Leaders following after.

"Wait up!" Syrus called as he and Chumley followed them.

When the sun was setting, the man was shown to the Slifer cafeteria and was staring at the simple meal of fish, rice and curry.

The three Digidestinds didn't want their digimon around the man, so Dai opened up a portal to the Digital World to allow them to stay there until the man was gone.

"Delish." Jaden hummed over his mouthful of rice, Tai stuffing his face as well.

"You better hurry up and finish or you won't have seconds." Jaden said.

"Uh, seconds?" the man asked.

"Or thirds." Jaden said.

"And sometimes fourths. They were gonna install a garbage disposal, but Jaden took care of that problem." Syrus said as the mentioned boy stuffed his face.

"I see. Well, then…" the man said trying some of the rice and fish.

After supper was done, Dai and Tai went back to the girl's dorm and they both sat down on the bed.

"I don't trust that guy." The wild haired brunette said.

"I know. He could be a spy from North Academy or worse. Paparazzi." Dai said as she looked at her window feeling nervous.

Tai crossed his arms as he glared at the window, knowing that it would be uproar if that guy was paparazzi and found out that Kaiba and Yugi's children were attending the school.

The two teenagers would never get any privacy and wouldn't be able to reach their full potential if everyone just saw them in their fathers' shadows.

"I can't believe Jaden let that creep into his room. If Renamon were still here, she would've threw him into the ocean without a care." Tai said.

Dai stood up and started pacing the room nervously.

Tai smiled at her as he got up and wrapped his arms around her, comforting her.

"Everything will be fine. We won't let him find out about you and Jay." He said.

She sighed and leaned into her older brother figure, praying to Ra, Horus, Azulongmon or, heck, even Pharaoh Atem that something good would happen.

**(The next day…)**

"All right, guys, get your eat on!" Jaden said at breakfast.

"Boy after my own heart." Tai chuckled as the two stuffed their faces.

"This stuff's so good. The hard part is remembering to chew. Before you swallow." Jaden said.

"That explains why we're missing so many forks. Look, just don't stuff yourself." Syrus said sternly.

"What's your prob, Syrus?" Jaden pouted.

"You're being very anti-lichious." Chumley said.

"Yeah, this stuff is better than my mom's cooking." Tai said.

"Maybe so, but if Jaden's going to win today's match, he's going to need to be a lean, mean dueling machine. After all, Bastion's been training weeks for this match up. You've trained what? An hour?" Syrus asked.

"More like a half." Jaden said making the bluenette groan as Dai and Tai laughed.

"Minus the time we took for that food run." Chumley chuckled.

"Look, Sy, Bastion has his way to train and I have mine." The Slifer King said as he kept eating.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Syrus sighed.

"By the way, where'd that guy Jarrod go?" he asked looking for the black haired man.

"I haven't seen him." He continued.

"I don't know, but his lunch is mine." Jaden said.

"Not if I get to it first." Tai said.

Finally, it was time for the big duel.

Bastion gave Kapurimon to the child of Miracles to look after as she took her seat with Tai, Chumley and Syrus in the stands.

"And now it's time duellists to find out…who will represent our most lustrous academy in the school duel!" Crowler said making the students all cheer.

"That's a Creepy Cross-dressing Crowler?!" Tai asked with a dumb founded look on his face.

"Introducing first from the Ra dorm, Bastion Misawa!" Crowler cried proudly making the crowd cheer.

"It's obvious who he wants to win." Dai said while Kapurimon cheered.

"Go, Bast! You can do it!" the In-training cheered.

"And then, from Slifer…some kid."Crolwer said.

"Grumble." Dai said snapping her fingers.

The Warrior of Earth shook the ground making the man fall onto his back side while Tai ran down and took the stage.

"Let's hear it for the duellist from Slifer, Jaden Yuki!" he yelled with a lot of energy making the crowd cheer wildly.

Crowler stared at the Obelisk he hadn't seen before in confusion as the male glowed with an orange light, the energy making the students all energized and amazed by the upcoming duel.

He had a great aura of leadership that made the people want to follow his example.

"Wow, he's good." Syrus said.

"That's my Taichi-sempai." Dai said proudly.

"Here we go. Good luck pal." Jaden smiled at his friend.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but with the deck I've prepared, I don't need luck." Bastion said.

"Hey, guys. Remember, whatever happens and whoever wins, it won't change the fact that you're friends and both awesome duellists." Tai said as Crowler tried to stand up, buy was tried down by an invisible force.

Grumblemon and Arbormon were sniggering and high fived each other as the man couldn't get back up to do anything.

"Go Jaden! This is what you trained for…or didn't." Syrus cheered.

"You can do it, guys! I have faith in both of you!" Dai called not wanting to choose between her friend and cousin.

"All right, let's get this duel started!" Tai yelled pumping a fist in the air making everyone cheered as the two younger Digidestinds started their duel.

During the duel, Tai was surprised with how real the battle was and had to cover himself from the flames or any other attacks that were sent.

It reminded him so much of the time of the battles he went through and he was amazed by it all.

The real trouble was when Bastion made a move that had Jaden at a lost when he wasn't able to use Polmerization for the entire duel and all of his friends, even Tai, were biting their nails in shock at this.

Even though Jaden was at a lost, he still found a way to make up for his loses and never backed down from the duel.

Jarrod had come in and was watching this all, becoming entranced by the way Jaden dueled and never gave up.

It was an all-out blood bath on the field and had everyone on the edge of their seats, Dai nearly jumping and squeezed Kapurimon tightly to her chest from it all.

The child of Darkness changed things up by summoning a new Elemental Hero, Wild Heart.

Kazemon was filming the entire thing on a camera and was going to give it to Dai to send to the Kaiba family so they could watch their son in action.

In the end, Jaden finally won.

"And there you have it!" Tai called.

"The winner of this duel is our very own Slifer King, Judai Jaden Yuki!" he yelled making everyone cheer loudly and wildly.

"Does this slacker ever lose?" Crowler groaned as he was released at last and Jarrod left with a smile, happy about the win and Dai watched in curiosity as Alexis chased after him.

"Thank you, Taichi Kamiya. Jaden will be Duel Academy's rep for the school duel." Sheppard said.

"Way to play, Jay." Syrus said as his friends all ran up to him and Dai handed Kapurimon over to Bastion.

"Awesome duel. That was intense." She said.

"Yes, but it seems that Jaden is still the King." He said taking his partner back.

"You're the King of my world, Bast." Kapurimon said.

"Thanks." The Ra blushed bashfully to his partner as Dai chuckled and ran over to her cousin, tackling him in a hug.

"Good job." Chumley said.

"You made my duel first an amazing experience." Tai said ruffling the boy's hair.

"You were too great." Dai said as the cousins hugged.

"Indeed." Bastion said as he walked over joining the crowd.

"You beat me fair and square, Jaden. Rather you beat this deck, but you can be assured that there will be another." He said as the cousins pulled apart.

"And another duel I hope. Till then." Jaden said doing his signature move and Bastion took his hand.

"Yes, until then, Jaden." He said as the boys smiled.

"I'm so proud of you, Jaden." Syrus said as the Slifer quartet were in a group hug, Tai and Bastion watching them just as Chibimon, Koromon and Viximon came in with a very familiar brown haired girl dressed in a pink skirt, white tube top and flip flops with cherry colored eyes ran in with a white cat.

"Guys, that duel was so amazing!" the girl said.

"Kari!" Jaden cried as Viximon jumped onto his head and then the child of Light threw herself in his arms.

"Koromon." Tai said picking up his partner.

"Chibimon!" Dai said hugging her dragon.

"AAAAHHHHH! There are more of those horrid creatures?!" Crowler yelled pointing at Koromon and Gatomon.

"Hey, who're you calling horrid? Have you even looked in a mirror?" Gatomon quipped.

The man then passed out, yet again.

"Wow, he really does do that." Kari said as everyone laughed.

"How long have you been here?" Dai asked.

"We were here for the entire duel. We got here early this morning and witnessed the entire thing." Gatomon said.

"It was just amazing, but you really shouldn't have used your Warriors to do those things to Crowler, no matter how much of a jerk he is." Kari scolded her leader.

"Hey, they do what they feel is right." Dai said.

"Anyway, Bastion Misawa, Syrus Truesdale, Chumley Huffington and Kapurimon, meet my sister Kari and her partner Gatomon. Kari's the child of Light." Tai introduced.

"Hi there." The girl smiled sweetly.

"H-Hello." Syrus said blushing.

"A pleasure, Hikari. I've heard much from Koushirou." Bastion said.

"Hey." Chumley said.

"All right, school duel, get your game on 'cause here I come!" Jaden cheered with one arm around Kari and the other pumped in the air, the crowd cheering again.

To be continued…

**Question! When Missy comes in at...whenever she comes in...should I have Dai duel her or not?**


	22. The King of Lax

**DNAshipping-Ken and Daisuke**

**Blueshipping-Matt and Daisuke**

**Goggleshipping-Tai and Daisuke**

**Sparkshipping-Zane and Daisuke**

**Chemicalshipping-Bastion and Daisuke**

**Goldshipping-Willis and Daisuke**

**Funshipping-Atticus and Daisuke**

**Rainbowshipping-Jesse and Daisuke**

**I decided to make up shipping names out of boredom. Hope you like them.**

_While I was getting drinks, I walked back into my room and was shocked out of my wits to see Matt was leafing through one of my song books._

"_Y-Yamato-sempai, what're you doing?" I asked rushing over and swiping the book out of his hands._

"_I didn't know you wrote songs, Daisuke. Why didn't you tell anyone?" he asked with a small smile._

"_It's embarrassing." I said hugging the book tightly to my chest._

"_I thought they were good. Really honest and it shows a new side to you. You think you can play it for me?" Matt asked._

"_I can't play any instrument." I said wanting to reject the idea and change the subject._

"_You wrote notes, so I'll play it and you can sing." He said taking my arm and started pulling me out of the room._

"_Where are we going?" I asked trying to break the strong, yet gentle hold he had on me._

"_To my place so I can play it." he said._

"_No!" I said._

_Sadly, it didn't matter what I said because he just forced me into my shoes and jacket and pretty much dragged me to his place._

_No one even bothered to stop a 16 year old male from dragging a 12 female off somewhere._

_This freaking town is unbelievable._

_When we got to his place, he locked the door so wouldn't leave and tied me to a chair so I wouldn't get lose and he sat down in front of me with a guitar, looking over the notes of the song he wanted me to sing._

_Matt strummed a few times, tuning the guitar till he got the perfect pitch and then smiled when he was ready._

"_All right, go on and sing." He said._

"_For 99,999 time, NO!" I yelled trying to get out of the hold, but screamed when I made the chair fall backwards._

_I groaned in pain from the impact as Matt shook his head at that, helping me up._

"_Now, sing." He said._

_I pouted, but knew I wasn't wining, so I closed my eyes feeling my cheeks burn._

_The child of Friendship started playing his guitar softly as I gathered up my courage and started to sing, hoping it didn't sound too awful._

"I don't think that passenger seat

Has ever looked so good to me

He tells me about his night

And I count the colors in his eyes

'I'll never fall in love' he swears as he runs his fingers through his hair

I'm laughing 'cause I hope he's wrong

And I don't think it ever crossed his mind

He tells me a joke, I fake a smile

And I know all his favorite songs

And I could tell you

His favorite color's green

He loves to argue

Born on the 17th

His sister's beautiful

He has his father's eyes

And if you ask me if I love him

I'd lie."

_I stopped singing and hesitantly cracked opened one eyes to see Matt had stopped when he realized that I wasn't going to continue._

"_It's a good song and I think I know who you wrote this for." He said making my cheeks burn even more._

"_R-really? Who do you think it w-was written for?" I asked._

"_Tai." He said._

"_I find it stupid he never even knew you used to have a crush on him. I mean, it was so obvious. Then again, he didn't know that Sora used to like him too, so he really is stupid." He said as he set his guitar down and stood up._

_He untied me and I got up from the chair._

_My eyes were downcast at the wooden floor boards, not sure what to do or say next._

_After a minute or so, I felt Matt cup my chin and lift my face up to look into his azure eyes._

"_Look, I promise I won't tell him about this…but I am going to be teaching you how to play guitar." He said smiling confidently._

"_Yamato-sempai, you don't have to do that. The teach me part, not the secret. I want that kept. I would just die if Taichi-sempai found out about this." I said feeling shocked._

_He actually wants to teach me how to play guitar?_

_Is he crazy?_

"_I'm teaching you no matter what. You have too much talent to be wasted." He said._

_And so that was the time Matt taught me how to play guitar and got comfortable enough to sing in front of him and we even worked on a few songs together._

"Eenie meenie mini moe catch a monster by its toe…if he stinks, then let him go." Jaden sighed as he looked over his deck.

Alexis, Chumley, Syrus, Bastion, Dai, V-Mon, Renamon and Kapurimon all crowded around him.

He groaned and banged his head on the desk, feeling at a lost.

"You know, my Water Dragon would be a fine addition to your deck for the school duel." Bastion said holding up the card.

"Water Dragon's a total wash out. You need something strong like Etoile Cyber." Alexis said holding up her card.

"How about Dez Koala?" Chumley asked holding up his own card.

"You can use my Power Bond if you need." Syrus said holding up the card as Jaden sat up.

Everyone was eager to help out in any way possible, so if that meant adding their own cards to the child of Darkness' deck, then they were happy to.

"WHAT I NEED IS SOME TIME TO THINK!" Jaden yelled making everyone back off.

"There's no need to be rude, Jaden. We're only trying to help. After all, you've selected as the academy's representative at the school duel. You-"

Bastion was cut off by Dai covering his mouth when Jaden had his head bent; his shoulder's shaking from stress.

"Guys, knock it off. He knows how important this is. He doesn't need you guys to remind him of it all the time." The child of Miracles said pulling her hand away from the taller male's mouth and folded her arms behind her head.

"Dai is right. No offence, Bast, but you need to learn when to cool down." Kapurimon said.

"Right, sorry." Bastion said guiltily.

"It's fine. I really appreciate all the help and I know the school's counting on me, but all I can do is my best." Jaden said.

"You're absolutely right." Bastion grinned.

"Dueling isn't about trophies, it's about being the best you can." He said.

"Yeah." Alexis smiled.

"And the best needs the power of my Water Dragon card!" Bastion said.

"Or Power Bond!" Syrus cut in.

"Or Etoile Cyber." Alexis chimed in making the cousins bang their heads on the desk.

"Dez Koala all the way!" Chumley said.

"ALL RIGHT, THAT'S IT! NO MORE! If I'm ever gonna arrange my deck, I need to be alone!" Jaden yelled as he grabbed his stuff and started running.

"Good call, let's loose these guys." Bastion said as he chased after him, the others all following as Dai and V-Mon watched.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!" Jaden yelled.

"Renamon armour digivolve too…Reppamon: the Hunter of Darkness!"

The brown fox with a blade for a tail jumped in front of the students, allowing her partner to mount her and then she ran off to get him somewhere nice and quiet where the others wouldn't bother him.

"Man, they just can't take a hint." Dai sighed.

"Poor Jay." V-Mon said.

Lowemon appeared and picked them both up, then let the shadows take them.

They appeared on the roof where Jaden was with Reppamon, Winged Kuriboh and some kid with gray hair that looked very lax with an Obelisk blazer tied around his neck.

"Jaden, there you are." Syrus called as he and the others all ran up onto the roof and the duo of Miracles walked out of the shadows, Lowemon fading away.

"You guys are just in time." Jaden said.

"Just in time for what? And who is that Obelisk over there?" Syrus asked.

"Indeed." Bastion said.

"Well, he's gonna be my opponent." Jaden said.

"A duel?" Bastion and Kapurimon asked grinning.

"A duel?" Alexis asked.

"Get your game on!" Jaden called to the guy.

His name was Balowski.

When he drew his first monster, everyone but Dai and Jaden were acting all weird, fawning over it.

The cousins and their partners wanted to bang their heads from how their friends were acting.

Moki Moki was making them all cheer for him, like they were under a spell.

They were all acting like hippies and V-Mon had to digivolve to XV-Mon to hold his partner back from murdering them.

Crowler came in and said that he had released Balowski who had special powers.

The cross dresser was in a hazmat suit that would protect him from it, so then Reppamon snarled, pouncing at the male and tore his suit off.

The man screamed in fear and cried out for help, but no one offered any since most of them were still under the spell and the cousins felt he deserved it after all the times the fox had kept in her pent up rage.

When Reppamon was done, she sassily turned her snout up and moseyed over to her partner.

Crowler explained that Balowski's power was the make Moki Moki's power come to life and lull everyone into a lazy daze.

He had to be locked away in an underground world where he was living for a while to keep the students safe from his power of laziness.

The duos of Darkness and Miracles were angered at the fact that he was locked away like a prisoner and was only brought out to duel someone that Crowler didn't like.

He was being used like a human weapon and it was unfair.

Dai and Jaden shared a look as they held out their D-3s, blue and purple lights shooting out them and covered their friends in a protective barrier, keeping out the mellow waves and woke them all up from their stupor.

Crolwer was dumb founded while Balowski was amazed by the show of power.

In the end, Jaden won the duel and he walked off over to Balowski as Crowler stayed on the floor, fearing that he would be attacked by the fox and dragon that were still in their Champion and armour forms.

"That's game and what a game." Jaden said striking his pose with a smile.

"I actually thought you had me a few times." he" said making the lax boy chuckle at that.

"Yeah, but I don't get it. Why didn't you trance out?" Balowski asked.

"Why would I? When I sleep I dream of dueling." Jaden laughed.

"Oh, I think I get it. You love dueling so much, the more Moki moki tried to zonk you out, the more revved up you got." Balwoski said.

"Yeah." Jaden said.

"Good to know for next time. For now, I need a nice long nap." The Obelisk yawned.

"Huh?" Jaden asked.

"Later." the lax boy said as he fell asleep.

"HEY! Is anyone awake? Hello? Oh, come on!" Jaden said as he looked around to see that Crolwer was snoring while the others were also sleeping after the barrier was taken down.

These were the after effects of being exposed to the power of Moki Moki for too long.

"OK, I will use your Water Dragon and your Power Bond. Etoile Cyber?" the SLifer King said in hopes of waking his friends up before his chocolate eyes wandered up to the sky.

"Hey, the clouds do kind of look like Duel Monsters." He said.

"Oh, that one looks like Poyomon!" Dai said as she pointed to one.

"I see a weird looking bunny." XV-Mon said.

The cousins then laid down on the roof top, using their digimon as pillows as they all rested there, watching the clouds.

Something that Balowski had taught them was that they really did need time to just…mellow out.

To be continued…


	23. The School Duel

The cousins and their partners were in the dueling arena, Jaden checking his deck.

"Come on out, Elemental Hero Avian! And now Burstinatrix! And while we're at it, Clayman, Sparkman! You guys come out too!" Jaden said calling out his four main monsters and they stood around him, smiling as he observed them all.

"Yeah. I've got the sweetest monsters ever. With you guys fighting on my side, we'll whoop whoever North Academy throws our way." He said.

"There's no way this guy can beat you as long as you keep believing in yourself and your deck." Dai said as she, V-Mon and Renamon stood behind him.

"You can do it." the fox smiled.

"And we'll be right there cheering you on all the way." The dragon said.

"_You can trust us all to be there."_ Agunimon said.

Jaden smiled at all of his friends and cousin, happy to have them there, but he also wished that his parents could be there to watch him duel as well.

"Jay!" Someone cried.

Everyone turned to see Syrus running in, so the Warriors all faded out, even though the boy couldn't see them.

"There you are. What're doing? Everyone's waiting for you." The bluenette said.

"For me? What for?" the Slifer King asked.

"For the meet and greet. North Academy just showed. Your opponent is here." Syrus said.

"And what're we waiting around here for?" Jaden asked as his Heroes faded away as he jumped off the stage.

"Let's go!" he said as he, Dai, Renamon and V-Mon took off to go see who the rep was.

"Yeah, I mean, that's why I…oh, wait up!" Syrus called as he chased after them.

They made it to the docks where a submarine was and a man that had a bald spot walked out to shake hands with Sheppard, plenty of other students and teachers standing behind the Slifer royals and their digimon to see the rep for North Academy.

"Foster, it's been too long. How have you been?" Sheppard asked pleasantly shaking the man's hand.

"I've been well ever since I got over the defeat you handed us in last year's school duel." Foster said making Renamon bristle.

He was the bitter type.

"Oh, it was a close match." Sheppard said.

"Not really, but this year I have a feeling it will be." Foster said with a disturbing look in his eyes.

"Uh, well I'm sure it will. A spirited duel between our two schools." Sheppard said.

"Yeah, yeah. Spirited. But enough with all the howdy doings. I wanna meet who I'm gonna be dueling." Jaden said smiling excitedly as her fox shook her head in amusement.

"Yes, Jaden, we were getting to that." Sheppard said making Crowler glare at the brunette.

"Great, then I'll just wait right here till we get there." Jaden said as Foster stared at him.

"Jaden Yuki. So you're Duel Academy's feed up." The man said.

"Feed up? That's the coolest thing I've ever been called! What's it mean?" the child of Darkness asked making the man anime fall.

"It means 'be quiet'." Sheppard said with a stern look.

"I got it." Dai said slapping her hand over her cousin's mouth.

"Chill out." She told him.

The boy took her hand off his mouth and smiled at her.

"Sorry, but I'm really excited to duel. I can't wait to meet him. When do I meet him?" he asked.

"Right now, slacker." A familiar voice asked.

"Who just said that?" Jaden asked.

"Oh no, please don't tell me…" Dai trailed off as a boy with pale skin, black hair, silver eyes dressed in nothing but black.

Around him were other cruel looking students from the rival school.

"It's me." The raven said.

"Whoa, hold on! Am I seeing things or is that Chazz?" Jaden asked as everyone stared in surprise.

"You got that right." Chazz said.

"Why're you here?" Jaden asked.

"For the duel." Chazz said.

"I think it's sold out." Jaden said making Renamon sighed in exasperation while Dai and V-Mon chuckled.

"I'm in it." Chazz said getting annoyed.

"Like as a ref?" Jaden asked.

"Or a cheerleader?" Dai sniggered making the Princeton brat fume at the insult.

"I'm dueling you, Jaden!" Chazz said.

"You mean…it's you?! You're North Academy's duel rep? Since when did you transfer?" Jaden asked.

"Since I stopped getting the respect I deserved here." Chazz said.

"That's right." Two Northies said.

"Yeah, now it's payback." An older man said with a Russian accent.

"What do you mean? You don't deserve any respect for flaunting your money around, lying and cheating. You're nothing more than a stuck up brat that needed a serious wake up call." Dai said stepping in front of her cousin.

"You took the coward's way out by leaving this school and turned your back on everyone just because they were being mean to you? So what? I say the haters can go screw themselves, 'cause they're no better considering how many of them got their butts whooped by Slifers and Ras since you've been gone. You know what? I'm leaving. I don't hang around jerks like you with lame, mindless followers." The child of Miracles said as she turned around and started walking off as everyone stared at her in shock.

"My, that girl has some…spunk." Foster said.

"You don't wanna get on her bad side." Jaden said unaffected by this.

"I see your pets grew up, but they won't protect you from me." Chazz said making the fox and dragon bristle, so Dai and Jaden had to grab them and hold them back from attacking the boy.

"He'll Chazz you up." Another Northy said.

"Big time." Chazz said.

Just then, wind whipped around everyone and they all braced themselves, Kazemon appearing and keeping her Master and her cousin safe from the winds.

"Ah, great. Now what?" Jaden asked as they saw two helicopters.

"Hi Chazz." Two black haired men appeared in one of the helicopters.

"What's happening little bro? mind if we drop in?" the second black haired male asked.

"Slade? Jagger? Why're you here?" Chazz asked his brothers.

"Why else? To celebrate your big dueling victory. You are going to win, right, Chazz?" Slade, the one with longer hair and beard said as both men had smirks on.

"That's it! beautiful." A camera crew said as they appeared.

"_I'm beginning to understand why Chazz is the way he is."_ Kazemon said.

"_That's bull! Kaiba's a cold hearted jerk, but Jaden never turned out to be anything like that."_ Lobomon said.

"Just act natural!" the camera man said.

"A little more to the right. OK, we're all set here with camera 2." Another man said.

"Uh, what's going on here?" Foster asked.

"What's going on? I think you mean when are you going on? And the answer to that is 'prime time' baby. And this school duel's gonna be broadcast live!" one of the men said.

"No way! We're gonna be on TV?" Jaden asked feeling nervous as his cousin stepped behind him in case they were reconized by someone.

There have been paparazzi who have found out they were Kaiba and Yugi's children, so they could come over to the island and harass them again like they had when they were in L.A. that one summer a few years back.

Afterwards, everyone left to get ready for the duel, Jaden going off to take a shower to calm himself down while Dai hid in her room until it was time for the duel.

Jaden ran into her room and looked grave.

"What's wrong?" Dai asked.

"Chazz is a lot more like Ken than you may think." He said shocking her.

"What do you mean?" she asked standing up.

"He feels the stress of his brothers just like Ken did with Sam. He wants to be perfect, the supreme one. It's making him go insane." Jaden said as he sat down on the bed.

"So he's slowly losing himself. Man, now I feel kind of bad for chewing him out like that." Dai sighed as she slumped down on the floor feeling worry and guilt consume her.

**(At the duel…)**

The crowd was pumped up for the match, the duo of Miracles sitting in a private booth with Renamon to watch.

"The duel hasn't started yet?" a cold voice asked as the door behind them was opened.

Dai gasped as she turned to see Seto and Serenity Kaiba walk into the room.

"Uncle Set? Aunt Ren? What're you two doing here?" Dai asked.

"What else? To watch our son duel and beat this kid into the ground." Seto said as he stood to watch the duel, his sapphire eyes focused on his son.

He was dressed in a white suit with a light blue tie and white dress shoes.  
"Oh, my baby's first big duel. I can't wait to see this." Serenity said as she hugged her niece.

She was dressed in a pink tank top with a black blazer, black knee length skirt and black high heels.

Dai smiled as she returned the hug.

"Jay will be happy to know you guys were here to watch him." She said.

"Jaden will win this duel." Seto said.

"Of course he will, Master Seto. Master Jaden is an exceptional duellist and will defeat the Princeton with ease." Renamon said bowing her head to the male.

Serenity smiled as she took her husband's arm, eager to see the duel that was about to take place.

"Princeton, huh? Well, I'm going to enjoy this duel all the more." Seto said smirking.

Everyone watched the duel go on.

It was an intense battle that had everyone biting their nails at how close it was.

Serenity and Dai were horrified by the large dragon that Chazz had summoned to take out Jaden, both in tears and Renamon worried as she dug her claws into V-Mon's arm.

The CEO wasn't showing it, but he was also worried for his son, willing him on to win.

Thankfully, Jaden stayed calm as he played a trap and saved his Life Points, Serenity nearly passing out from the relief as Dai and V-Mon cheered loudly in joy.

Seto felt proud, but nearly banged his head on the glass as he saw his son summon Winged Kuroboh, cursing Yugi for giving him that card.

Dai was interested in seeing that Chazz had an Ojama Yellow appear in a transparent form beside him.

Apparently, he was able to see spirits too and he wasn't too happy about it by the way he was yelling at the poor guy.

When he destroyed the dragon, Dai screamed and jumped around for joy, dancing around with V-Mon in her arms.

Jaden was dueling now to show Chazz that he didn't have to duel because of the pressure his brothers were putting on him, but for fun.

Sadly, Chazz was back in the game when he brought his dragon back, making everyone freak out again, but Jaden reassured everyone he wasn't worried and was having fun, even when he was losing, giving a speech to Chazz about how his brothers were being unfair and how he should duel for himself.

Jaden played Flame Wingman and used the card Miracle Kid, making it so he lowered the dragon's attack points and destroyed it, but the camera men cut off the transmission since Chaz was losing.

Slade and Jagger were the ones paying them to show film this in the first place to show that their brother was powerful, but now that it was backfired, they shut off the transmission so no one would see the end, but Dai wouldn't have that.

She had Mercurymon and Beetlemon turn the transmission back on so everyone would see the end of it.

Seto glared as he watched Slade and Jagger walk over to their brother and insulted him.

Jagger grabbed Chazz by the collar of his shirt and started yelling in his face.

Dai and the digimon quickly ran down to the stage as Jaden glared at the brother with Zane, Syrus, Chumley, Bastion, Kapurimon and Alexis all standing behind him.

"Let him go!" Jaden ordered making the brothers look at him.

"Sure, he lost, but how could he not with you two jerks breathing down his neck?" the child of Darkness scolded with Renamon snarling at his side.

"Two jerks? Do you have any idea who we are?" Jagger asked.

"We could have you crushed, kid." He said.

"Why defend Chazz anyhow? He's a nobody now. Disowned by us and by the whole world. I mean, the cameras caught enough of it. He got schooled. He got mopped." Slade said as Jaden glared harder at them, his eyes flashing gold.

"That's right. And then worst of all, he got beat." Jagger yelled in Chazz's face.

"Wrong. There's one fight he did win. The fight…against you two. Sure, Chazz may not have won the duel, but hey, at least he fought it on his own terms. It's like he said; he used his cards, not what your money could buy!" Jaden said standing proud and tall.

"Right on, Jaden! I mean, you SLifer slacker." Crolwer said ducking his head down as he felt touched by the speech.

The older brothers glared at the Slifer King as they pushed Chazz away.

"Tight duel, Chazz and I know it's cheesy, but I think the truth of it is, we both won here." Jaden said.

"You're just saying that. I mean, come on. Nobody else believes that." Chazz said with his head downcast.

"We do, Chazz!" someone in the crowd yelled as everyone started cheering.

Chazz was amazed that everyone from the rival schools were cheering for him as his brothers sneered at them.

"We don't have time for this garbage." Slade said.

"Oh, boys." Dai sang with a smirk as Grumblemon and Arbormon chased after the brothers to get a little revenge.

Long story short, but they were going to have multicolored hair and skin for a few months thanks to the mischievous Warriors.

**(Hours later…)**

"Well, Chazz, I guess this is goodbye." Jaden said to the black haired boy as everyone was gathered at the docks to see him off.

"Don't forget to write, pal." Dai said.

"Jaden, Daisuke. I'm not going back." Chazz said shocking everyone.

"Look guys, I don't belong with you." He said to the Northies.

"But where do you belong?" the Russian asked.

"Right here. Duel Academy was always my home." Chazz stated.

"But you're our best duellist, Chazz. You sure?" the Russian asked.

"I am if Chancellor Sheppard will take me back, that is." Chazz said looking at the man.

"Well, Chazz, you were one of the best students we had. How can I say no?" the man smiled.

"Guess I'll be going." Foster said.

"May I have your attention please?" Crowler asked from his place on a stage that was at the docks.

"Now, to present the prize for this year's match between North Academy and our esteem university, I give you the most beautiful woman on the island, Miss Duel Academy!" he said gaining all the boys' attention as they went up to the stage.

"Sounds hot." Jaden said.

"Jay, be my wingman, OK?" Syrus asked.

"Here she is!" Crowler said as Dorothy came out with makeup on and in an orange dress.

"DOROTHY'S MISS DUEL ACADEMY?!" Jaden asked as all of the boys freaked out while Dai laughed so hard she had to be held up by someone, which happened to be Chazz since he was the closest to her.

"Geez, it's not that funny!" he said.

"Will the wining Chancellor please approach the stage?" Crolwer asked and Sheppard pranced up there happily.

Dorothy then kissed him on the cheek, everyone startled by that.

"A kiss? That's the big prize you two were talking about?" Jaden asked while Foster cried out in despair.

"I can't bear to watch! Wait for me! I'll be back next year, my lady!" he bawled as he ran off, accidentally pushing Dai right into Chazz's arms, the two watching the man go to the submarine.

"That's a chick?" Chazz asked.

"Wow, that's sad." Dai said.

A few minutes later, everyone was waving the submarine off.

"Don't worry, Foster. I'll take good care of her for you!" Sheppard teased the bawling man.

The Northies were cheering for Chazz as they cried, sad to be parting from him.

"There is one thing, Chazz." Sheppard said.

"What's that?" the raven asked.

"Banner." Sheppard said.

"Since you dropped out of Duel Academy and are now coming back, you are technically a new student and therefore must start from the bottom. At Slifer Red." Banner said.

"Slifer?!" he yelped.

"Yes, Slifer. Welcome. We'll get you fitted for a blazer as soon as we get back to the dorm. Then we'll find you a roommate." Banner continued.

"Roommate? Look here, Chazz Princeton rooms alone. You guys got that?" he asked.

"Alone, huh? Do cockroaches count?" Syrus asked with an innocent smile.

"WHAT?!" Chazz demanded.

"We've got a few and some rats." Jaden said.

"RATS?! I CHANGE MY MIND! TURN THE SUB AROUND!" Chazz yelled making the Slifer royals and Syrus laugh.

"Coem on guys. How about we give him the Slifer cheer." Jadenasked.

" I don't want it!" Chazz said.

"S-L-I-F-E-" Everyone cheered pumping their arms.

"Can we just stick with 'Chazz it up'?" the raven asked.

"Slifer it up!" everyone cheered as they hugged the new member.

"This stinks. My new family's already dysfunctional." Chazz groaned as he sat down with his hands on his head as Jaden, Renamon, Dai, V-Mon, Bastion, Kapurimon, Alexis and Syrus sat down around him, smiling.

"DOROTHY, MY DEAR! I'LL COME BACK FOR YOU! I'LL COEM BACK!" Foster could be heard calling.

"Jaden, you should know, your parents are waiting for you in the office." Renamon said.

Jaden was surprised as he shot up and ran off to go see his parents, while Chazz was staring at the fox as she followed her partner in shock.

"Did that thing really just talk?" he asked.

"Of course." V-Mon said jumping on him.

The raven jumped back with a shout.

"How can those things talk?!" he asked.

"Long story, but we'll tell ya." Kapurimon assured as he hopped on Bastion's shoulder.

"Come on, I'll tell ya all about it." Dai smiled as she wrapped an arm around Chazz's neck and started leading him away.

To be continued…

**Dude, did you know that Jaden and Kaiba both dueled Ginzo? I just watched an abridged version of Yugioh called Seto Kaiba vs. the World. Oh, and Joey got hit by lightning just like Dai did. I really need to keep a look out for these connections that were made to the characters.**


	24. The Kaiba Family

Jaden ran off as fast as he could, soon entering the office of the Chancellor and there he found his mother and father standing.

Serenity looked up when the doors were thrown open and she smiled widely as she saw her son enter the room, his chest heaving from how hard he pushed himself to get there.

"Jaden." She said as she walked over to her son and held him.

Jaden smiled as he breathed in the honey scent of his mother and returned the hug wholeheartedly.

Seto, who was sitting in the chair, stood and slowly made his way over to his wife and son.

"I missed you, Mom." Jaden said.

"Oh, I missed you too my beautiful, strong boy. You've grown so much." She sobbed.

The child of Darkness gave a short chuckle before they separated and then his face became impassive as his chocolate brown eyes met those sapphires of his father.

"Hello, Father." He said.

The CEO said nothing as he observed his son's face.

Gently, he cupped his chin and saw the hope and fear glimmering in Jaden's eyes.

"You did great." Seto said at least offering a small turn up on his lips.

Jaden gasped in shock at that as his father moved his hand to the back of his head and then pulled Jaden's head forward, making his forehead rest on Seto's chest.

It was a small show of affection.

One that he hardly ever did, but was now giving to his only child.

He had been worried for Jaden, not sure of what would happen or how he would pull himself out of the troubling situations he was in, but had been surprised and felt pride swell his heart at how his son handled the duel and the confrontation of those pathetic losers Jagger and Slade Princeton.

"Thanks, Father." Jaden said feeling slightly dazed and touched by this.

Seto gave a small chuckle as he used his other hand to rub his son's back, Jaden's eyes filling with tears, but wouldn't let them fall.

He wanted this moment to last longer and he was afraid that him bursting into tears and bawling like a baby would ruin it all.

Serenity stood by with Renamon, both smiling as they watched the father/son moment that was happening before them.

The two Kaiba males pulled away, Jaden forcing the tears away as he looked into his father's eyes.

"Continue with all your good work and try not to get into any more trouble." Seto said as he stepped away from his son.

"I'll try." Jaden said.

"Seto, where are you going?" Serenity asked.

"We need to hurry up and get back. I still have a meeting to prepare for in the morning." Was the man's response as he walked out.

The orange haired sighed and shook her head at that before she walked over to her son and kissed his duel haired head.

"I love you, sweetie and so does your father. He made sure that we got here as soon as we could to watch the duel in the first place." She said.

"I know, but…I just wish he would say it for once." Jaden said as his eyes stared at the setting sun that turned the sky orange, pink and purple.

"He'll say it someday, but even if he doesn't, know that he does love you." The woman said as she gave her son one last hug before she walked off.

Renamon bowed her head to the woman as she left, then turned her blue eyes to her partner.

She walked over to him, her footsteps silent.

"Jaden?" she asked gaining his attention.

He turned to her with a smile, his tears falling slowly down his face.

"Hey, Rena. That was a sweet duel, huh?" he asked.

Winged Kuriboh also appeared, cooing worriedly.

"Hey, pal. Thanks for all of your help. Man, I'm so pumped up I'm crying." Jaden said.

Winged Kuriboh shared a look with Renamon as the fox walked over and enveloped her partner in a hug.

Jaden was still as he melted into the embrace of the fox.

"Cry if you wish. I'll be here for you, always." She said.

Then, the young Digidestind held onto Renamon and just let the tears fall long and hard.

Winged Kuriboh sat on his Master's head, providing as much comfort as he could.

"I will always watch over you, Master Jaden. I will there for you no matter what. Even if it is for small things, I'll be there." Renamon said as she held the boy until he cried himself to sleep.

She gathered him up in her arms and faded off into his room, Syrus and Chumley barely even flinching since they had become used to this.

"What happened to Jaden?" Syrus asked as he stared at the sleeping boy.

"He was just tired after the meeting with his parents." Renamon said as she set him down on his bed.

She stripped off his jacket, shoes, socks and pants, then tucked him under the warm covers.

The little Duel Monster was there again, Chumley watching as Winged Kuriboh settled himself in next to his partner, providing some warmth and acing as a pillow if needed.

"Man, I wonder if all digimon and Duel Spirits are like this." He said out loud to himself.

"What do you mean by that, Chum?" the bluenette asked as he started getting ready to go take a shower.

"Nothing, Sy. Forget it." the heavyset male sighed.

Syrus pouted before he turned and walked out of the room.

The yellow fox then walked off to a corner and started meditating, knowing that V-Mon would be too busy with Dai and Chazz, the new Slifer, explaining things about digimon and the Digital World to him since Renamon had spoken in front of him.

To be continued…

**I made a video about Dai, Yugi, Jaden, Seto, V-Mon and Renamon. Check it out on my channel if you want. It's called 'Digimon and Yugioh Gx fanfiction'. It can be found by JadenWolf7. I hope you like it.**


	25. The Shadow Games Begin

The group were all in class, Banner teaching them another lesson.

V-Mon was snoozing away while Dai stroked his head, allowing him to rest and Jaden was snoozing as well with eyes drawn on his eyelids to make it seem like he was awake, but the illusion was ruined by his snoring.

"So, as you can see, you can learn a great duel about dueling from alchemy. For just as you might combine two monsters to create another, you can combine two compounds to create something equally impressive." Banner said.

He then mixed two different liquids together and gently shook the beaker as they waited for the reaction.

The orange liquid glowed a dark, nice orange color before it exploded, a screen of smoke covering Banner.

Jaden and V-Mon slept through this, though.

"And equally devastating." Banner said as the smoke faded away showing how messed he looked and he fell to the ground.

The bell then sounded, signaling the end of class and this is what woke the Slifer King up.

"Morning, guys. Learn anything good today?" he asked smiling as Chumley and Syrus gave him looks while Dai chuckled as she picked up her dragon, cradling him in her arms.

"Um, sure did. To duck." Syrus said.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I'm, uh, planning a little field trip." Banner said as he stood up holding a packet of sheets.

"All right. To where? Circus? Carnival?" Jaden asked.

"Even better." Banner said.

"A soccer game?" Dai asked.

"We're taking a ten mile hike all the way to the excavated ruins where we'll be taking geologic core samples. Saturday at 7:00 am. Don't be late." The teacher said.

**(The next day…)**

"Only 7? Where is everyone else?" Banner asked disappointed when he saw that only Alexis, Syrus, Chumley and the duos of Darkness and Miracles had arrived with their bags packed.

"Maybe they're still sleeping, Professor." Syrus suggested.

"You know. In their nice warm beds with their nice comfy pillows." He continued as he and Chumley shared a look.

They really didn't want to be there and so did Dai as she seemed to be nearly asleep where she stood, her eyes drooping shut.

"Just like I would be doing if Banner didn't threaten us with detention if we didn't show. It's 7:00 am in the morning. I need my beauty sleep." Chumley said.

"I'll tell you what the secret to getting up early is. Staying up all night long." Jaden said smiling as he looked energized.

"To tell you the truth, I could hardly sleep either. These ruins we're going to use to host the Shadow Games." Alexis said making Dai snap her eyes open.

"Sweet. Maybe we'll find some clues then. about your brother." Jaden said.

"Yeah. That's kind of what I'm hoping for." Alexis said.

In the Abandoned Dorm, one of the missing students was Alexis' older brother named Atticus.

"Now, we must be careful as we approach the ruins." Banner said as he checked his electronic device to check out the ruins.

"Inside is an ancient tomb." He said making Syrus look worried for some reason.

"Uh, Jaden, I need to talk to you." He said making their teacher look at him curiously.

"But, I-"Jaden was cut off by the boy pulling him off to the side.

"OK everyone. Let's go." Banner said after the boys were done speaking.

They all started their hike up to the ruins to check out the tomb, Chumley huffing and panting from all of the walking.

"Are we there? My feet really hurt." He groaned.

"Can we take a bathroom break or something?" he asked a few minutes later.

"I hate climbing." He said as they climbed up a rocky path, V-Mon and Renamon helping him up.

"I hate crawling." Chumley said as they went across a log that was over a river.

"I hate hiking. Are we there yet? I'm hungry." He said.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP?!" Dai shouted sounding very much like a banshee as she finally had enough of his complaining that had gone on for two hours.

"Oh, look, we're finally here." Banner said thankfully.

Now he wouldn't have to call Mr. Huffington and tell him that his son was murdered by a 15 year old girl.

"Isn't it just amazing?" the teacher asked his students as they gazed at it in amazement.

"They looked all ruined." Jaden said.

"That's because they're ruins." Alexis said.

"Beautiful! You can still make out the shattered remains of the oculist. Oh, and the fastigem. No doubt inspired by the amendment of Sakura." Banner said excitedly.

**(I have no idea what he's saying. There are mistakes of there, sorry.)**

"He sure seems excited to see rocks." Syrus said as he and Chumley sat down.

"Yeah, well I'm excited to sit down." The heavyset boy said.

"Yeah, and while we're at it, how about…" Jaden trailed off as he shared a look with V-Mon and Dai.

"We chow down!" the trio said.

"I don't see why not. And then we'll hit a few cenotaphs, a couple of sarcophagus or is it sarcophagi?" Banner asked as everyone groaned while they started unpacking.

"No matter. Time to eat. I just love pizza." The man said.

"Huh? You get pizza while we're stuck with whatever it is I'm holding?" Jaden asked as everyone had rice balls as they sat down on a white picnic cloth a few feet away from the teacher.

"I'm your teacher. I need a big meal to, uh, teach you all." He said making his students pout or glare at him as they all started eating their food.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STAY AT HOME, NOT HITCH A RIDE AND EAT MY LUNCH!" Banner yelled suddenly making everyone turn to see Pharaoh was inside his bag with crumbs on his face.

The man was on his hands and knees, head bent as a wave of despair was coming from him.

"Maybe you could share you lunch with me?" Banner asked hopefully with tears streaming down his face.

"Sorry, we're your students. We need these to learn." Jaden said as everyone scrunched up their faces in a way to resemble their teacher.

"And we digimon need food so we can digivolve." V-Mon said.

"To protect you all from danger. We need this much more than you do." Renamon said.

"Yeah, like you weren't going to share." Chumley said as Pharaoh jumped out of the bag and was playing with something on the ground.

"Of course I was going to share." Banner said.

"Oh, please." Dai scoffed.

"Share what? Pepperoni breath all day?" Alexis asked.

"Look, I have mints. Would anyone like a mint? See, I'm sharing." Banner said.

The cat then yowled as a bright green light shot up from the ground where he was digging.

"What's going on?" Jaden asked.

"What is it?" Syrus asked.

The two Digidestinds and digimon stood up as more pillars of light shot from the ground, both gripping their D-3s in case.

"That's one powerful mint." Chumley said as the green lights blinded them all.

They looked up to the sky to see that the sun was splitting up.

"Is anyone else…seeing in triplicate?" Banner asked as he held Pharaoh.

"This is the most lichious field trip ever." Chumley said as the sky turned into a rainbow pattern and seemed to be moving.

"This reminds me way too much of the Digital World." Dai said.

"I'm afraid this isn't related to the Digital World." Renamon said.

"It doesn't feel like it." V-Mon said.

"Then what can this be?" Jaden asked.

"Quick, children. Head for cover." Banner said and everyone ran away as thunder sounded.

"We'll find safety over in that siroccos." He said.

"The what?" everyone asked.

"The thing with the hole in it." he said.

"Oh." Everyone said as Jaden and Dai stopped running, staring up at the sky with their digimon standing by them.

"Come on." Syrus called as he and the others were inside.

"You must hurry." Banner said as thunder boomed and lightning flashed.

"Jaden." Chumley said.

"Dai." Alexis called.

"You guys stay in there. We'll lead the storm away." Jaden said.

Blue and purple lights shone on the cousins them.

"V-Mon digivolve too…XV-MON!"

"Renamon digivolve too…KYUUBIMON!"

The two teenagers mounted their partners, the fox taking off in a run as the dragon flew close to the ground as to not get hit by lightning.

The rainbow lights chased after them, until they were hit and they soon saw black as they fell unconscious.

Sometime later, Jaden and Dai both woke up to find Chibomon and Relemon beside them.

"What happened to you guys?" Jaden asked.

"The light… it took our strength." Relemon said.

The two Digidestinds held their Fresh level partners, then gasped when they saw that the ruins looked clean and brand new.

They were in front of what looked like a pyramid, staring in awe.

"Whoa, think we took a wrong turn." Jaden said.

"Ya think?" Dai a d Chibomon asked as Winged Kuriboh appeared, cooing.

"Yeah, we're not in Kansas anymore, guys." Jaden said as they all stood up.

"Hey, what's that?" Chibomon asked.

"It's the entrance to the ruins." Dai said gazing at the beautiful circular pillar that had dragons curving around both sides of it and a pond in front of it.

"But it's not…ruined. We're in some wicked crazy dream, Kuriboh. Too bad you can't just pinch my cheeks so I can wake up, huh?" Jaden said to the winged puff ball.

"Ow! What, did you sharpen those? You need to cut them once in a while." Jaden said after the monster pinched him.

"By the way, Kuriboh, since when can I feel you?" Jaden asked as he used to arm that wasn't holding Relemon to pet Kuriboh, who cooed.

"Well, this is weird." Dai said, then they heard someone clear their throat.

They turned to see who it was.

"This is sacred ground. You must leave here immediately. You are in very grave danger." Said the woman with tanned skin, dark eyes and dark hair.

"Wow, what dorm are those clothes from? I wanna join." Jaden said.

Kuriboh then cooed, the woman looked startled as she looked over her should, grabbed the bag Jaden had and then took the cousins, pulling them into the shadows of the pyramid.

"Hey!" they yelped.

"Quiet or do you wish to share the others' fate?" the woman asked.

"What others?" Jaden asked only to get shushed.

Jaden blushed as the woman was brushed up against him as they heard footsteps and a team of men walking two lines went up into the pyramid or temple.

Dai bit her lip and slapped her hand over Chibomon's mouth to keep him from making a noise as they all anxiously awaited the men to go away.

Once they were inside, the woman relaxed and stepped away from the child of Darkness.

"They dress weirder than Doctor Crowler. What's going on here?" he asked.

"I speak of the strangers who share your dress. They have been taken by the grave taker chief. They will be punished for entering his most sacred tomb." The woman said.

"Punished?" Jaden asked.

"For what exactly?" Dai asked.

"No way. Not on my watch, lady. Take me to him right now." Jaden said.

The woman stared into the determined eyes of the two teenagers, seeing how serious they were about going and she nodded.

"So be it. You were warned." She said handing the bag to Jaden and then turned to walk off.

The group followed and Dai was shocked to see something that looked like a control spire, only it was a sand color.

"Tell me strangers, by which means did you arrive here?" the woman asked.

"Uh, the name's Jaden. This is Relemon, Dai and Chibomon and I don't even know where here is." The Slifer King said.

"We were just with our friends and teacher when this light show happened and we were here." The SLifer Queen said as they walked into a temple.

"You will wait here." The woman said as they looked into the room.

"No we won't. I want to see my friends." Jaden said.

"I will find them. Believe me. If you're found walking about, you'll be of no use to them." The woman said confusing them.

"I'll be back." She said.

"Fine." Jaden frowned as the woman walked out.

The cousins sat down and then started waiting for the nameless woman to return with their friends.

What seemed like a few hours had passed as that sat down waiting.

"What's taking so long? Isn't she ever gonna come back? Wait a sec. what if she's working with this grave keeper? That would mean we're all in big trouble." Jaden said.

"Somebody help us!" a girl yelled from outside.

"That sounded like Alexis!" Dai gasped as the cousins stood up.

"Alexis! Is that you?" Jaden asked as he handed Relemon to Dai to hold as he got up to one of the windows and looked out.

"What's going on?" Chibomon asked.

"It's Alexis and the others. They're all tied up in coffins." The child of Darkness called down.

"What?!" Relemon gasped as the two digimon used their teeth to hang onto Dai's jacket as she climbed up to see that it was true.

"Get down." A man voice said and Dai turned to see a man poking Jaden in the rear with a sharp spear.

"Move towards the sharp object?!" Jaden asked.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Dai said.

"Now." The man ordered as another man was with him, so the cousins slid down to the gorund.

"All right, all right. You ever hear of a handshake?" Jaden asked annoyed, but then the two teenagers jumped back as two spears were shoved in their faces.

"I guess. Not." He said as they saw the five guards and one who may be the tomb keeper person.

"Oh, where's my manners? Introductions first. I'm Jaden Yuki and this is my cousin Daisuke Motomiya. And your name would be?" the Slifer King asked.

"I am the Grave Keeper Chief and you have traversed upon the sacred tomb that I protect." The man at the back of the group said.

"We didn't know." Dai said.

"So about we just grab our friends downstairs, we'll say our goodbyes to you and then zip back to the dimension we came from." Jaden said.

"That is not possible." The Chief said.

"Why not?" Dai asked.

"Because, fools, you have tread upon my domain and you will be punished along with your friends." The Chief said.

"Come on! Can't we just pay a fine or something?" Jaden asked.

"You cannot." The Chief said.

"Oh yeah? Then you can't point your spears at us." Jaden said as he waved his hand and the men lowered their weapons, allowing the cousins to step back from the wall.

"You show some spirit, strangers. I shall pardon your trespasses, given, you can survive my challenge. What is your answer?" the Chief asked.

"Well, what's the challenge?" Jaden asked.

The Chief smirked as he pulled out a deck of Duel Monster cards, making the duos of Darkness and Miracles stare in surprise.

"A duel?" Jaden asked.

"That figures." Dai said as the spears and men backed off.

"Now you're speaking my language. You're on, but only if you pardon all of my friends along with me, deal?" Jaden asked.

"So be it, if you win." The Chief said as Jaden reached into his bag for his duel disk.

"For my friends, there's no 'if' about it, pal. I'll win." Jaden said.

"But if you don't, you will be punished. You will be buried alive." The man smirked making the child of Darkness and Chibomon cry out in worry and disbelief.

"Buried alive?! But then who will save my friend?" Jaden asked.

"Hello, am I invisible?" the Slifer Queen asked.

"Oh, right. Sorry, Dai." He said to his frowning cousin.

"They will be buried along with you." The Chief laughed.

They all went outside, the guards holding Dai as she held the digimon in her arms, staring at her cousin worriedly, praying for him to win.

The duel was long, hard and filled with danger.

The attacks were more real and the battle field gave the Chief more of an advantage.

The child of Miracles yelled her support, but was back handed by one of the men, making Relemon and Chibomon glare at him as the girl hit the ground.

Jaden looked angered by his cousin's body hitting the ground, his eyes flashing gold as he gritted his teeth.

As it turns out, the Chief's monsters were real people and the female looked so familiar to Jaden, and wasn't too thrilled on how the Chief was talking to them.

Finally, after summoning Blade Edge, Jaden won the duel making Dai and the digimon cheer for joy.

"That's game!" the SLifer King said doing his signature pose.

"Chief!" the woman cried out as she and the guards ran over to their master to help him up while Dai ran over to her cousin.

"Hey, is he OK?" Jaden asked as he met his cousin half way, and they went to go see if the man was badly hurt was the attack.

They were stopped by the guards holding up their weapons, blocking them off.

"No, they live. He was an impressive opponent." The Chief said as he was helped up.

"Hey, thanks. Some of your moves were pretty tight too, there. It was a sweet match, let's duel again sometime." Jaden said stunning the people.

"What? You mean to say you enjoyed the Shadow Game?" the Chief asked.

"Oh, totally. I mean, I could have done without the whole friends in the coffin thing, but it was fun. And you three guys, very scary, very tough. And you too. You all fought great." Jaden said complimenting everyone on their work.

"I wasn't too happy about getting back handed, but worse things have happened to me, so you're forgiven." Dai said.

"Only one other person has ever passed this challenge, that is, until now. For having overcome your triumph, I bequeath to you this mystic medallion. It is yours." The Chief said pulling out a gold circular amulet that had a red gem in the center of what looked like an eye and part of it was broken off.

"Really, for me?" Jaden smiled as he accepted the amulet in awe.

"Hmm. Ah, some gift. There's only half." He said.

"But of course. You see, the only other to have passed this challenge holds this other half. Hopefully, when the time comes for you to battle in another Shadow Game, this medallion will serve you well." The Chief said as the medallion glimmered.

"Sweetness. I'll be sure to remember that." Jaden said as he put the medallion on, Relemon sitting on his head as Dai came up beside him.

The Chief and woman then turned their backs to the, looking down at the coffins below that were closed with their friends inside and they then opened.

"We're free!" Syrus cheered when the sunlight from the three sins warmed them.

"Whoa, turn down the lights. Man." Chumley said.

"Oh, I love the light. Light is my friend." Banner said.

"Wow, Jaden. You saved us." Alexis smiled as they were released.

**(Later…)**

"Way to play, Jay." Syrus complimented as they all stood at the temple.

"I knew you would pass this test, Jaden. I just knew it." Banner said making Jaden laugh, but then a thoughtful expression dawned on his face.

"Wait, what do you mean 'test'? Don't you mean 'challenge'?" Jaden asked as the students all looked at their teacher, Dai glaring harshly.

"Yes, of course. I mean…test, challenge, it is all the same. Am I right? All that matters is you won. Isn't that right, guys?" Banner asked nervously.

"Yeah." The cousins deadpanned as the man laughed.

"Well then, it's time for you and your friends to return to your own world." The Chief said.

"Sounds good to me." Jaden and Dai said then smiled at each other.

"So how do we get back?" Relemon and Chibomon asked.

"Go to the gate of the tomb just as the three lights combine into one, so that the veil of the radiance appears before you." The Chief said.

"O-K." Jaden said just as a group of the guards ran in, pointing their spears at them.

"You fools. What are you doing?" Chief asked.

"They must be punished either by you or by us." One of the men said.

The men all started chanting 'punished' as they advanced.

"What the-?" Jaden asked.

"Stop! They have been punished for their misdeeds. He has passed his challenge. His freedom has been earned." Chief stepping in front of the group protectively.

"Jaden!" Alexis cried out as the men went to attack him, but the woman blocked their attacks, protecting the boy.

"It's you!" Jaden gasped when her mask fell away to reveal the woman they had met before and hid them.

"Yes, I'm Grave Keeper's Assailant. I'm sorry I fought you, but I had to obey my Chief." She said.

"Hey, it's cool." Jaden said.

"Already over it." Dai shrugged.

"Uh, Jaden? Don't you think it's rude to not introduce me-I mean, us, to your friend?'" Syrus said making his friends sigh.

"Go find your own friends." Jaden said.

"When you finally return to your world, please give a message to the owner of the other half. Tell him Yasmin's still in the other world, but I haven't forgotten him and that I believe one day we will meet again." The woman, now known as Yasmin, said.

"Oh, boyfriend." Jaden said scratching his nose as everyone sighed and Syrus pouted.

"I knew it." he said.

The men then started advancing again.

"Stand back! He has won the challenge and we must honor our word. We are the Keepers of the Graves, not the makers. If you want to harm any of them, you'll have to get through me." Yasmin said as she held up her daggers and took a defensive stance.

The men groaned as they parted, allowing them access out.

"I would hurry." The woman said.

"For sure, but, uh, how do we leave again?" Jaden asked.

"Oh, I think a friend will help show you the way." Yasmin smiled.

"Winged Kuriboh." Jaden said as the monster appeared.

"He wants us to follow." He said as Syrus rubbed his eyes, not sure if he was seeing things as the others started following the winged puffball.

"Thanks, Yasmin!" Dai called.

"Hurry!" the woman called.

"The lights! They're combining." Jaden said as they saw the three suns eclipsing each other.

"We've gotta hurry!" Relemon said.

"Come on you guys!" Chibomon called, but then heard someone grunt.

They all sopped to see the eldest Slifer tripped and fell down.

"Chumley, are you OK?" Jaden asked as the male got up and held his knee, face scrunched in pain.

"Old tricycle injury." Chumley grunted.

The sky then turned multi colored again like last time.

"Just go on without me. You don't have time to wait. Seriously, go. You can still make it." the black haired boy said.

"What're ya, crazy?" Dai scolded.

"No way, Chumley." Jaden said.

"We're not leaving you behind." Chibomon said as the cousins both went on either side of the male.

"You must." He said when suddenly his backpack glowed and Dez Koala appeared.

He picked up his Master and then everyone started running to the gate before the light show was over.

"I love running!" Chumley cheered now that he wasn't the one doing the work.

"It's now or never guys. Let's make tracks!" Jaden yelled.

Green pillars of lights shot up from the ground.

They all cried out as the lights engulfed them and soon they were transported home, all of them blacked out.

A short while later, Dai opened her eyes and saw Jaden was holding his Winged Kuriboh card with Renamon standing next to him as the others were all sleeping.

She looked down at her lap to see V-Mon was there, snoring away.

"Hmm. Must have all been a hallucination from those moldy sandwiches." Jaden said.

"I doubt that highly." Dai said pointing to the medallion around his neck.

"Oh well. At least we're back to one sun, but still. Something just tells me…the shadows will be back." Jaden said.

"Great. Our parents are gonna have epic freak outs when they hear about this." Dai groaned pitifully as she banged her head against the ruin behind her.

To be continued…


	26. Little Red Dai and the Big Bad Kaiser

"WHHHHHAAAAATTTTT?!" a pair of deep and shrill voices exploded across the entire Duel Island, startling everyone and the animals that lived in the forest.

Jaden and Dai gave nervous glances to their friends as they sat down in the Slifer Queen's room talking to the Kaiba and Muto family over the video chat.

Jo and Seto were both infuriated by the fact that the CEO's son was involved in a Shadow Game and the King of Game's daughter had been attacked by people working for the ones who brought the Shadow Games to life again.

"I can't believe the Shadow Games are back. They were supposed to be lost after the Millennium Items were locked away when Atem was sent back with Seth' Mahad, Mana, Isis and all of the others. This doesn't make any sense." Yugi said.

"This is obscured!" Seto snarled slamming his fist down on the table he was sitting at while Serenity massaged his shoulders to calm him down.

"Ya got that right. You two are comin' home right now." Jo said.

"Mom!" Dai yelped shooting up as Alexis, Syrus and Chumley looked shocked that they would be losing their friends.

"I hate to say this, but I agree with Wheeler. I will not have my son involved in something that really killed Mokuba and I." Seto said.

"Father, that isn't fair. We have our digimon here to protect us. Besides, I easily beat the Chief dude. We're both great duellists." Jaden said standing up.

"Seto, you should listen to them. Give them a chance. Dai has survived and led her team to win an apocalypse. If she did it once, she can do it again, especially with more Digidestinds that are being called at that school." Mokuba said.

"Uncle Set, if you don' let us do this, I swear, I will bitch until you agree and I am very good at that, you know that from experience." Dai threatened.

Seto glared at the stubborn girl, knowing how serious she was as Jo groaned and banged her head on the window behind him, Yugi watching with a sweat drop and nervous smile.

"Does she always do that?" Syrus asked V-Mon quietly.

"Dai used to be scared of Seto, but after she became the Leader of the Digidestinds, she's never afraid of anything anymore. She never lets him push her around and will fight him." The dragon whispered back.

Alexis seemed surprised by this all.

First she found out that her new friends are the children of Seto and Serenity Kaiba, and Yugi and Jo Muto.

Now she's watching Dai standing up to the CEO who's gaze could freeze molten lava.

To say she was feeling overwhelmed would be an understatement.

"Fine, I'll allow you both to stay there." Seto said making Syrus and Chumley cheer before they quickly were silenced by the man's deadly gaze.

"But…V-Mon must remain in one of his Champion forms at ALL TIMES. I don't care what some of the students at the school will say about seeing the dragon, to hell with them. I want you to be safe or else I'll drag you both from that school kicking and screaming. Is that understood?" Seto demanded.

Dai shrugged and pulled out her D3, then turned to her dragon, who smiled and nodded at her.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"V-Mon armour digivolve too…Flamedramon: the Fire of Courage!"

"Why do all of his forms have to have sharp blades?!" the bluenette yelped as he and the heavyset boy jumped away from the 5'10 dragon.

"Happy?" Dai asked with a coy grin that made her mother proud and her eldest uncle's blood boil.

"Yes. Now, go on with you day and try not to get killed." Seto said.

"We love you, Jay." Serenity said.

"Love you too." Jaden said smiling softly to his mother and raven haired uncle.

"We love you, Dai-chan." Yugi said.

"Give those freaks a beat down for da both of us!" Jo said.

"I love you too and believe me, I will." Dai said with a wink.

The transmission then ended, the computer screen going black and the room was silent.

"Well, it's time to go show off my 'growth spurt' to Crowler." Flamedramon said as he picked up his partner in his arms.

"I can't wait to see that." Jaden said.

"Let's go. We should inform the Chancellor of this new development." Renamon said.

Dai giggled as her dragon took off, ready to go show off to whoever was around.

They soared over the island, landing next to the lighthouse where a certain Kaiser was, a look of interest in his eyes while his face remained impassive.

"Oh, hey Kaiser." Dai greeted as her dragon set her down.

"Hello Daisuke. I see V-Mon digivolved once again." Zane said.

"I am Flamedramon now. As V-Mon I used the digi egg of Courage to armour digivolve." The dragon said.

"Just how many forms do you have?" the Obelisk asked as he walked over to the duo.

"Not telling." Dai said as she teasingly poked her tongue out between her lips.

Zane shook his head in amusement at her display of childlike behaviour.

Normally it would annoy him to no ends if other girls did it, but on Dai it was natural and innocent, not faked like most.

"Fair enough. Would you both like to come to the Obelisk dorms for dinner?" he offered.

Flamedramon and Dai shared a look, but nodded with smiles they realized they would come across a certain cross-dresser and would get to scare the living daylights out of him.

"Sounds great." The maroon haired girl smiled.

"I could eat." The dragon said.

"All right then. Just follow me." Zane said as he led the two into the dorm.

As the trio walked, everyone started in shock at the fact that the Kaiser was spending time with a Slifer, but then they realized that it was the Slifer Queen and that her dragon had gotten even bigger.

Some people were scared of the dragon while others were amazed by how cool it looked with the blades and the fire pattern on its armour.

Dai and Flamedramon stared down at the food platter they were given with a large steak, vegetables, dipping sauces and breadsticks.

"I think I just fell in love." The dragon said as he started eating.

"This stuff is even better than the food from Ra. Thanks a lot for inviting us, Kaiser." The Slifer Queen said as she cut her meat and nearly moaned in ecstasy from the taste.

"It's fine. I could use the company. Having the same people around to just praise me gets irritating." Zane said as he calmly ate his food.

"I'm guessing it's the fan girls. My friend's Ken and Yamato-sempai have that problem too." Dai said as she took a sip of the freshly squeezed fruit punch they were given to drink in fancy wine glasses.

"Daisuke, is that you?" a voice called.

The group looked up to see an Obelisk that the child of Miracles hadn't seen since their duel.

"Oh, hey Harrington. How've you been?" she asked smiling to the male as he stood beside her.

"I've been great. Wow, your pet really got big. He looks awesome." Harrington said making the dragon smirk in pride while Zane was frowning at his classmate.

"Careful, we don't need you pumping his ego." Dai said flicking Flamedramon's white snout and he turned his head up facing away as he pouted.

Harrington chuckled, then turned his gaze to who the Slifer Queen was dining with and felt his lips twitch into a knowing smirk.

"Oh, is this a date?" he asked.

"Don't be ridiculous." Zane said looking away.

"Yeah, we're just hanging out as friends. Besides, my sempais scare off any guys who take any interest in me." Dai said smiling fondly at the thought of Tai and Matt.

Flamedramon snickered at the memory of what happened to that Phil boy from New York when he showed some interest in Dai and had gotten 'the talk' of the conditions on dating the girl by the children of Courage and Friendship.

The ice and flames dancing dangerously in their eyes would forever haunt that poor African American boy.

"Oh, so they like to play big brother, huh? Isn't that sweet of them." Harrington laughed with the girl he had once sought out.

Zane was frowning as he felt left out of the conversation, stabbing his potatoes with his knife.

"Well, I'll just leave you guys to it, then. Great catching up with you. By the way, that rematch, it's still on, Slifer Pixie." The sporting goods heir winked at the girl, making the teal haired male grit his teeth.

"Don't call me that or I'll come up with something very inappropriate to call you." The maroon haired girl warned.

"At least he isn't acting like a raving lunatic anymore." Flamedramon said.

"He always has been eccentric. Mind explaining this whole pixie thing to me?" Zane asked.

"Yeah, a few months back Jaden almost hit me with a tennis ball and Harrington saved me from the hit, but he wound up nailing Crowler in the eye and Jaden got the blame. For some odd reason, Harrington then claimed me as his future bride and didn't know Jay was my cousin and saw him as a rival. He challenged him to a duel for my hand in marriage, but I told him to duel me instead and I won and set him straight." Dai explained.

Zane quirked an eyebrow.

"He honestly did that?" he asked.

"Hand to Ra." Flamedramon said.

"Wait. That huge ball of flame…that was you?" Zane asked as he thought back to a few months ago.

He was trying to avoid one of his admirers when he saw the bright light from the tennis court and saw many students all running to check it out.

After the second sun faded away, he heard everyone talking about how an Obelisk had been beaten by a powerful Slifer that should have been placed in Obelisk instead.

"Pretty much." Dai said blushing bashfully as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"You have some hidden talent in you." He said.

"All right, bub, you know a lot more stuff about me than I do about you, so start spilling." The girl said as she leaned forward.

"Excuse me?" Zane asked.

"I wanna learn more about you. I mean, we're sort of friends, so I want to know more about the guy behind the Kaiser." The girl said.

He looked into her chocolate brown eyes with surprised steel, not used to anyone wanting to learn about who he was as a person.

It was a first to happen to him ever since he was maybe a few years younger than Dai herself.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

"The basics. You know, name, family, hobbies, goal, music, color, food, movie, book. That stuff." She answered.

"Maybe you should provide an example." Flamedramon said.

"OK. I'm Daisuke Dayna Muto. I'm an only child who lives with my parents. My hobbies would be soccer since I've been doing it for ten years and was the captain of the unisex soccer team and I also play a bit of guitar. I love ramen, any style of music depending on the sound, my favorite color is blue, I love comedy and action films and my favorite book is the 'House of Night' series. Oh and my goal is…well, I don't know yet. Still processing." She said.

"I'm relieved that you didn't say 'Twilight'." Zane said before he thought back to what she said about her name.

"Wait, Muto? I thought it was Motomiya." He said softly not wanting to attract attention from anyone.

"Jaden and I didn't want anyone to know who our real parents are. The only others who know are Sheppard, Syrus, Chumley, Bastion and Alexis." Dai explained.

"So then you are the children of Kaiba and Yugi." Zane stated.

The maroon haired girl nodded.

"All right, you're turn. Tell us all about you." She said.

"Very well. My name is Zane Ryo Trusedale. I have a younger brother named Syrus, as you know, and we both live with our parents. I have no preference over food or colors, music and films. I prefer science fiction novels or a good mystery. My hobbies are dueling and my goal is to end my year with a duel that I will remember for the rest of my life as I move on to be a in the pro leagues." He said.

"OK, I learned hardly anything from you, but I'm determined to get some more outta you." Dai said as she continued eating.

Zane let a small grin curve his lips at that and Flamedramon nearly choked on his food in shock.

This girl was very different and a happy change that the Kaiser welcomed.

He felt himself growing more interest in her with each meeting they had.

He had seen the sides of courage, friendship, purity and wisdom that came from her and this made him want to learn more.

"Good luck with that." Zane said.

To be continued…

**OK, so the episode where everyone dresses up as Duel Monsters for a day, what should Dai dress up as?**


	27. Doomsday

_One day when I was 10, after I first met the Warriors and Jaden was found as the child of Darkness and Diaboramon was defeated AGAIN, I was watching TV with Chibimon when the screen all of a sudden went all staticky._

"_Ah!" we yelled._

"_NO!" Chibimon yelled as he jumped off the couch we were sitting on and started hitting the screen with his tiny paws._

"_Work! Come, work! Don't quit on me now! LIVE!" he yelled dramatically._

_I started pushing buttons on the remote to get it to work, but every channel was the same._

"_I think we need to call the TV repair guy." I said throwing the remote down._

"_Tristan! We can call Tristan and have him come down and fix this." Chibimon said._

"_Tristan fixes cars, not TVs." I reminded him as I got up and scooped the little dragon into my arms._

"_Then call Ryou." He said desperate to watch the TV show that was playing to see how it ends._

_He means Ryou Bakura._

"_He's an archeologist and is in Peru right now." I said._

"_Would you gusy just shut up?" an annoyaced male voice said making us jump._

"_Who said that?" I asked standing in a defensive position as Chibimon quickly digivolved to V-Mon, pumping his fists to fight._

"_Nice going, buddy. That really helped us out." A familiar voice called._

"_Agunimon? Is that you?" I asked._

"_Is what me?" the Warrior of Flame asked as he appeared next to me._

"_I just heard someone that sounded like you." I said._

"_We can explain that." A female voice said._

_I then watched as a girl with short caramel brown hair, peachy toned skin and pretty crimson eyes walked out of the TV with a red and black dino at her side._

_In her hair she had a pair of yellow circular goggles._

_Next came out a teenage boy with shoulder length auburn hair with tanned skin and green eyes with an Agumon at his side with red training grips._

_Next was a 10 year old version of Tai with his goggles on and his Agumon at his side._

_Last was a boy that had coffee brown eyes, tanned skin, messy dark brown hair that was hidden under a green hat and square goggles and no digimon at his side._

"_What the…who are you people?" I asked._

_The girl smiled as she nearly bounced over to me and took my hands._

"_It's so cool to finally meet you. I'm Takato Matsuki and I'm the Leader of the Tamers. This is my partner Guilmon. I'm the Tamer of Hazard, too." The girl said._

"_Hi." Guilmon said as he waved his paws at us._

"_A-Agunimon?! What're ya doin' here?" the guy with square goggles asked in shock._

"_You know him?" V-Mon asked the Warrior of Flame, who laughed nervously._

"_Uh, well…" he trailed off._

"_Daisuke, is that really you? Wow, you really grew." Tai said as he walked over and we saw that I was an inch taller than he was._

"_And you really shrunk, Taichi-sempai." I stated._

"_Yeah, it's a long story. Anyway, these guys are Masaru Marcus Damon and his Agumon." He said pointing to the teenager._

"_I'm the leader of the Digimon Data Squad and the best fighter in all of japan." Marcus stated proudly._

"_Do you have anything to eat?' his Agumon asked gaining a hit to the head from his partner._

"_I told ya to eat before we left." Marcus scolded._

"_But Boss, I wasn't hungry then." Agumon said as he rubbed his head._

"_And I'm Takuya Kanbara, the leader of the Legendary Warriors. Agunimon was my partner." The last guy said._

"_WHAT?!" V-Mon and I yelled as we turned and glared at the Warrior of Flame as he started to fade away to escape getting yelled at._

_Oh, he is so dead for not telling us about this!_

After a night of loud thunder and lightning with a down pour of rain, the Slifer quartet were in their class with Banner, Jaden just waking up with a picture of a smiley face on his head.

"All right. Tome to get up." He said stretching.

"For the next class?" Syrus asked.

"Of course not. For lunch." Jaden said as he pulled out his black bento box making Dai laugh at that.

"Oh, yeah. The one subject I can't get enough of." He said as he shared his food with his cousin while Flamedramon and Renamon stood at the back of the class room, watching over their partners.

"Just a moment there, Jaden and Daisuke. I'm afraid your lunch will have to wait. It seems Chancellor Sheppard wants a word with you two." Banner said making the cousins look at him in surprise.

"Jaden, Dai, I'll watch your lunch for you, especially if you have a side of grilled cheese in there." Chumley said as Jaden swallow the fried shrimp he had sticking between his lips.

"Oh, you wish." Jaden said.

"Chancellor Shepard? Ah, Jaden, Daisuke, what's you two do?" Syrus asked worriedly.

"What makes you think we did anything?" Dai asked pouting.

"Maybe it's good, like an award." The child of Darkness suggested with a smile as the mask he had fell over his eyes.

"No way." Chazz laughed as he stood up, making everyone look over to where he was sitting at the top row, dressed in black.

"It's never good news with Sheppard. You are so busted!" he taunted pointing at them smugly.

"Actually, Chazz, he wants to see you too." Banner said.

"Ohhhh." Dai jeered with a smirk.

"He what?" Chazz asked surprised as Flamedramon snickered.

"And two others. You bastion." The teacher said as the black haired boy stood up from his seat near the front row.

"And you, Alexis." Banner finished making the Obelisk Queen stand up from her place between Mindy and Jasmine.

"This doesn't sound good." Jaden said as he lifted the mask.

The five students then stood up and walked off to Sheppard's office, Renamon, Flamedramon and Kotemon, Kapurimon's Rookie form, following after them.

"I'm not gonna make a run for it, Professor Banner. You don't have to escort us to Chancellor Sheppard's office." Jaden said as the group walked off.

"Yes I do. You see, he wants to see me as well." Banner said as they saw Crowler and Zane walking down to the office doors as well.

"Well, well. Look at this combination of students. Some of the best duellists in the school, I see. Uh oh, which one of these is not like the others? Clearly someone or some ones are a little bit lost." Crowler said looking pointedly at Jaden and Dai, while the dragon and fox snarled at the man, making him cower behind the Kaiser.

"He is not." Jaden smiled.

"Yeah, Chazz was invited." Dai said sharing a look with her cousin.

"He means you two!" the raven yelled.

They laughed as they walked into the office, all of them standing in a line in front of Shappard, the digimon behind their partners.

"Three sacred what cards?" Jaden asked.

"Beast and due to their immense power, their colossal might, they were hidden here." Sheppard said.

"Was that a smart idea?" Dai asked.

"Sweet, like under someone's mattress or in a cookie jar?" Jaden asked making Renamon and Dai groan.

"Hey, let him finish." Chazz hissed at them.

"They're not in a cookie jar. They're actually much closer than you think. Right below you." Sheppard said making everyone glance at the floor.

"You see, this academy was built in part to protect the Sacred Beasts cards. They were buried deep under ground. Their powers sealed safely away. After all, legend says if these cards ever see the light of day, terrible things will happen. Buildings will crumble, light will fade-"

"The world will end." Dai cut in with a bored look.

"And evil will rule the world forever, shaping it into a nightmare that no one will awaken from." Flamedramon said.

"And the only way to stop that from happening is for us to do something about it because it's our destiny. Yada, yada, yada." Dai said.

Everyone was staring at them in shock at how easily they just brushed off this entire fact that they could all die and their world would be no more.

"Show some respect!" Crowler yelled at them.

"Dai's already dealt with saving the world from ending, like, three…four times already. She's used to this; after all, she is the leader of the Digidestinds." Jaden said.

"I understand that, Jaden, but this doesn't involve digimon." Shepard said.

"Where are these cards?" Renamon asked.

"Yeah, I wanna take 'em out for a spin." Jaden said.

"Haven't you been listening?!" Crowler yelled at him as the boy gave an innocent look.

"So this is why the eleven of you are here. To protect these three cards from the wicked ones." Sheppard said urgently.

"Didn't I say something like that before?" Dai muttered and then whined as Zane pinched her cheek.

"The wicked ones?" he asked letting go of the girl as she rubbed at her cheek and pouted at him.

"That's right. Seven duellists known as the Shadow Riders who covet these cards and I'm afraid one of them is already here. He arrived here in the thick of last night's storm." Sheppard said.

"Naturally." Bastion said.

"Oh, great." Kotemon sighed.

"OK, so how do we protect these cards?" Alexis asked.

"By protecting the eight spirit gates. To get to the cards, one must unlock them. And to unlock them, one must gain the eight keys to each gate. That is how we'll protect these cards. By protecting the keys. And here they are." The man said as he pulled up a black box.

"One for each of you to guard." He said.

"Wait, so…we hold the keys? Won't that make us targets?" Bastion asked.

"It's true. With these keys, the Shadow Riders will seek you out." Sheppard said.

"Uh, seek us out? You mean take us out." Chazz said.

"Only…in a duel." Sheppard said.

"A duel?" Bastion asked as everyone gasped.

"That's right. Fortunately, for our side, the keys can't simply be stolen. An ancient edict commands the keys must be won in a duel. And so, I've called on our school's eight best along with three protectors, to take up this challenge and fight the good fight." Sheppard said.

"Well, 6 best really, but I needed 8, so, you know." He cleared his throat awkwardly as he looked at the two teachers.

"He certainly doesn't mean me." Crowler said pointing at the cousins, who turned up their noses at him.

Just as the child of Miracles was about to say something, Zane covered her mouth knowing she would just start a fight.

"Of course, if any of you don't think you're up to it and feel like backing out, I won't blame you. After all, these Shadow Riders play for keeps. So, who feels like saving the world?" Sheppard asked as he opened the box to show a puzzle like block with black markings on them that come apart.

Everyone shared a look, while the cousins eagerly took one of the keys each.

"Count us in." they said placing the keys around their necks.

"How about that? It's my size." Jaden said making Dai laugh as Zane chuckled at them.

"I, too, accept." He said taking one of the keys.

"It would be my honor." Bastion said taking one.

"I don't want you boys and Dai to have all the fun." Alexis said taking one and so did Chazz with a grunt.

"How could I refuse? I mean, our very world is at stake. Our way of life, the future of the school and if I say no, I wouldn't get this very important piece of jewelry." Crowler said taking one.

"Yes, well, good to know you're doing it for the right reasons. Sort of." Sheppard said.

"Well then, I'm the last one." Banner said as he took the last key and Pharaoh batted his aw at it.

"And we accept our duties, as well." Renamon said.

"We'll protect not only our partners, but their friends and…others." Flamedramon said glancing at Crowler when he said 'others'.

"I may not be able to reach my Champion form yet, but I'll happily help out." Kotemon said.

"All right, let's get started. I think the best duellist should go first, so that would mean…well, me." Jaden said cheerfully.

"YOU?! You couldn't beat a drum!" Crowler yelled at the boy.

"Actually, Jay's a musical prodigy." Dai muttered making Alexis, Bastion and Chazz look at her in disbelief.

"Obviously, I should duel first. If not, I say Zane. After all, he did beat Jaden. Yes, that's right. I know all about that little match you had with Zane. When I say 'little', because you lost to him in no time at all. How pathetic." Crowler said getting in Jaden's face.

Renamon had to get held back by Flamedramon so she didn't murder the man.

"Ah, forget 'em both. I'm clearly the best choice." Chazz smirked.

"I could care less who goes first, as long as we beat these creeps." Dai said.

"There's no choice. This isn't some tournament where you choose who goes first. This is war. You can be attacked by your enemy at any time and any place! So, my students, be on guard." Sheppard said and then dismissed them.

That night, Dai and Flamedramon were in their dorm room as Jaden was with his roommates.

"Seriously, can't I ever get a break? It's like I was destined to fight and risk my life to save the world since the day was born." The girl said as she played with her key.

"_Shadow Riders? Man, that's a totally lame name."_ Agunimon said.

"_Yeah, I bet they ripped it off from some old TV show."_ Lobomon said.

"_You can bet we won't let these guys win." _Beetlemon said.

"_We will humbly risk ourselves to protect you and your companions, Lady Daisuke."_ Mercurymon said.

"_Me ready to fight."_ Grumblemon snickered as he pulled his hammers up from nowhere.

"_Should we call Tai and the others to inform them of this?"_ Lowemon asked.

"_They're your friends. They deserve to know."_ Kazemon said.

"_Are you nuts?!"_ Arbourmon asked.

"_If they find out, then Yugi an' Seto will find out and Duel Academy can kiss Jay and Dai bye-bye."_ Ranamon said.

"_What do you think, Dai?_" Kumamon asked the girl who was curled up with her dragon.

"I'll tell Ken, but that's it. The others can't know about this at all or they'll come down to help. We're dealing with the Shadow Games and I won't risk them.

The Warriors all nodded at that and then went to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Lowemon sensed an evil presence and started to shake his Master awake.

"Noooo. It's too early." She groaned.

"Dai, you need to wake up. One of them is here already." The Warrior of darkness said.

Flamedramon, who was curled up in a corner sleeping, was soon up and helped shake his partner awake.

"All right, I'm up. Are you serious?" she asked them.

"_Yes. Hurry."_ The Warrior said and the girl got up, going into her cousin's room to see a bright light coming from it.

"Jaden!" Alexis called as she ran in behind Dai.

The three looked at each other as someone started laughing evilly.

"What's happening?" Alexis asked as the light surrounded them.

"The first duel is happening." The man said.

The light transported the Slifer royalty and Obelisk Queen with the dragon and fox over the active volcano, standing on an invisible platform.

"Where are we?" Alexis asked.

"In one very weird dream." Jaden said.

"Jaden, be careful." Renamon scolded him as he stood near the edge.

The lava then shot up, forming into the head of a dragon that roared at them.

"Or nightmare." Alexis said weakly.

"It's neither." That voice said again.

The dragon circled around before it hit the platform and turned into a long hair brunette dressed in black with a mask.

"What's going on?" Jaden asked.

"You mean you don't know?" the man asked.

"Call me a slow learner." Jaden said.

"And call me Night Shroud." The man said.

"Night Shroud?" Jaden asked.

"Oh, my Ra. It's just as bad as Shadow Riders." Dai groaned.

"I'll be the one taking that key you have around your neck." Night Shroud said.

"Wow, you guys don't waste much time, do ya?" Jaden asked.

Just then, the medallion around Jaden's neck glowed along with the one that was around Night Shroud's neck, shocking them.

"Nice medallion. The Grave Keeper…must be getting sloppy. But if you think you'll be able to beat me as easy as you beat him, then you have another thing coming. I'll get that key and I'll get it now. Oh, and just to make sure of that, I brought friends." Night Shroud said.

"What's that mean?" Jaden asked.

The lava shot up again and the humans covered their heads as Flamedramon and Renamon stood above Jaden and Alexis while Agunimon appeared to keep Dai safe.

"Here. Say hello to Syrus and Chumley." Night Shroud said shocking everyone.

"Oh no." Jaden said.

"JADEN! DAISUKE!" came Syrus' fear filled voice.

"HELP US!" Chumley's voice called.

Down in the lava were the two boys stuck in an orb that was in a stone clawed hand.

"No!' Jaden cried.

"Guys!" Dai called.

"Hold on!" Alexis called.

"Looks like they're in hot water or maybe I should say hot molten lava, but then, such is the nature of a Shadow Game keeper." Night Shroud said.

"Shadow Game?" Jaden asked.

"I knew it! I knew these lame-o creeps were gonna use the Shadow Games." Dai said.

"Listen, just duel me, but let them go." Jaden said.

"I don't think so. I need them to ensure a speedy match. After all, that protection orb they're in…well, let's just say that it's not built to last. Oh, and I'm afraid there's more, too. For you see, also at stake is your soul which will be seal in this card when you lose." Night Shroud said as he held up a black card that was covered in black mist.

"Of course, if I lose, then my soul will be sealed. But hey, let's be honest with ourselves. Me lose? No way. Now, then. Shall we?" he asked with a smirk.

"You can't agree to this." Alexis said.

"Tell that to Syrus and Chumley. They're about to become meatballs in a lava stew. They're my friends and I'm not gonna let that happen to them or us. Besides, it's not like this is my first Shadow Game. I'm just hoping it doesn't hurt as bad as the others. OK, pal, you wanna duel? You got it." the Slifer King said rising to the challenge.

"Good luck, Jay." Syrus called.

"And just let us know, if, you know, if we can help." Chumley said.

"Uh, yeah, sure, Chum. But I think I got all the help I need right here in my deck." Jaden said.

And so the duel started.

When Night Shroud summoned Red Eyes Black Dragon, Dai gasped in shock since her mother had one in her deck as well.

The pain was real and it hurt more than anything.

Everyone was biting their nails throughout the duel, the child of Miracles literally having bleeding fingers from the stress of the danger.

When Jaden was badly hurt, Alexis offered herself and her key in exchange for the others.

Night Shroud stared at her for some reason, as if he knew her from somewhere before.

Jaden refused the offer and wouldn't back down until his Life Points hit 0.

When the lava attacked Syrus and Chumley, Flamedramon jumped in and saved them, bringing them up on the platform where they would be safe.

Finally, Jaden fused Wild Heart and Blade Edge to create Wild Edge and had his field spell card Skyscraper to bring up his ATK Points and destroy everyone monster that was on Night Shroud's field.

"That's game." Jaden said doing his pose as Night Shroud lost and cried out in pain, grabbing his head.

The lava shot up and surrounded him in a pillar as Jaden fell to his knees in exhaustion.

"Jaden!" Alexis cried running to his side as lava shot up around them.

Chumley, Syrus, Dai and Flamedramon screamed along with everyone else as they were covered in lava and light being transported to the edge of the volcano.

Dai groaned as she got up, seeing Jaden was beside her unconscious with Viximon on his stomach and V-Mon on hers as Alexis, Chumley and Syrus ran over to them and Night Shroud was a few feet away from them.

"Jaden?" Chumley cried.

"Wake up." Alexis said as the heavyset male picked the brunette up.

"He's not moving." Syrus said worriedly.

"Jay, come on." The Slifer Queen called as V-Mon picked up Viximon, trying to shake her awake.

"Guys, he's fine. Tired maybe, but who can blame him?" Alexis smiled after she checked his wrist.

"Not me. I'm tired and I didn't do a thing." Chumley said.

"Jay! Don't you do this? Why? Why?!" Syrus cried.

"He's OK, now shut up and let him sleep." Dai said whacking the blunette over the head.

"Which is more than what we can say for Night Shroud." Alexis said.

She picked up the card that would seal the loser's soul and saw that only the mask was on it with chains around it.

"At least we'll be safe from him now." She said.

She stood up and walked over to the man, Dai watching curiously as the blonde kneeled down next to the man that was face down on the ground.

"Alexis…" he groaned weakly.

The blonde cried out in shock and began to tremble, so Dai took that as her cue to get up and ran over to her friend, seeing that the male was looking up at them with half lidded brown eyes before he fell back unconscious.

"It can't be!" Alexis said.

"Jaden! Hold on, we're coming!" came Bastion's voice.

"Viximon!" cried Kotemon.

Bastion, Zane, Chazz and Kotemon must have sensed the duel from their keys and were running over to see if they could help in anyway.

The males all kneeled down in front of the child of Darkness while Dai watched over Alexis.

"What happened?" Chazz asked.

"One of the Shadow Riders challenged Jaden to a duel." Syrus said.

"So, what happened? Did he win?" Chazz asked.

"He sure did Chazz. It was a lishious battle. There was lava, dragons, some chocolate French fries." Chumley said.

"So, is that him?" Zane asked as he looked over to where the two Queens of the school were.

"The Shadow Rider?" he asked walking over as Alexis held the man in her arms and Dai rubbed her back in comfort when she realized why the girl was so upset.

"Alexis?" the Kaiser asked when he heard the girl sobbing.

"It's him, Zane. It's him. I don't understand how, but…it's him." Alexis said looking at her friend, who gasped when he saw the face of the crying woman.

"I…I thought I lost him, but he's back. He's finally back." She said.

"What're you talking about? Who's back?" Zane asked confused.

"If you looked at his face, then maybe you'd know." Dai said as she continued to comfort her friend.

"It's my brother." Alexis said making Zane gasp as his eyes widened in shock.

"Atticus?" he asked as Alexis continued to sob and the others walked over with Jaden being carried on Chumley's back.

"It wasn't him before, but that card took away whatever darkness was holding him. He's back now." Alexis said as the sun started to poke out from the dark sky, night becoming day.

"And if this is how it is after you win a duel, just think what it's like when you lose. The sun may be coming up now, but night will fall again soon and when it does, we must be ready." Zane said.

To be continued…


	28. Vampires! Seriously!

"_So there's some big evil that copied all of our previous enemies and we need to go to some other dimension that is connected to our own to save it?" V-Mon asked after Mini Tai, Takuya, Agunimon, Takato, Marcus, the two Agumons and us sat down on the floor._

_This was after I nearly beat Agunimon with a frying pan for lying to me, Takuya and Tai holding me back from any further damage while the rest of the Warriors all watched laughing._

"_Pretty much." Marcus said._

"_And you were already partnered to someone and were able to fuse together with them? Why did this never come up in conversation?" I asked the Warrior of Flame._

"Hey, it's not just me. It was also Lobomon, Kazemon, Lowemon, Beetlemon and Kumamon too. They should be getting yelled at here too."_ He said._

"_Yeah, but you're the leader. You should take responsibility over this matter." Takato said._

_I totally love this girl._

"_Guys, Clockwork said he would be coming to get us soon so we can go save the dimension." Marcus' Agumon pointed out._

"_So, you in?" Marcus asked me._

"_Oh, please. Like I'm gonna refuse that? I'm no coward. We're Digidestinds. We never give up and we always try our hardest." I said standing up._

"_And we never back down no matter what the trouble." V-Mon said._

"_That's my Dai-chan." Tai said proudly as he and his Agumon stood up._

_The mark of Flame then started burning and I grunted in shock and pain as a red light shot over to Takuya, transforming into a digivice that he said was called a D-tector._

"_Hey, welcome back, buddy!" Takuya smiled._

"_Oh, Ra. You two do belong together." I groaned._

"_Looks like all of the Warriors will be doing that when they meet their old partners." Tai's Agumon said._

"_Then let's get moving." Marcus said._

"_Who made you the leader here?" Takuya asked._

"_Well, it's obvious because I'm the oldest." Marcus said._

"_That means nothing, though. You're the fifth generation leader." Takato said._

"_I say it should be Taichi-sempai. After all, he was a part of the original group." I said._

"_I agree." The only other female leader nodded with a smile._

"_And I nominate myself. So, 3/5. I'm the leader. Now let's go." Tai said as the TV glowed so we all walked into the portal._

"_You only won because the girls have crushes on you." Marcus grumbled._

_Takato and I shared a look, then smacked the boy over the head._

"_Hey! What was that for?" he yelled._

_Guilmon giggled as he ran ahead with V-Mon riding on his back._

"_You had it coming." The red dino said._

_Takato and I giggled as she looped arms and walked into the portal together, ready to go save the world…again._

Jaden gasped as he shot up from his sleep, holding onto his stomach in pain.

"Jaden, are you OK?" Syrus asked.

"What happened?" Dai asked her cousin feeling worry over him.

Ever since he had first been brought to the clinic with Atticus, Dai and Alexis could hardly leave the two boys' sides.

"Oh, man. Weird dream. I saw a girl." The child of Darkness said.

"A girl?" Renamon asked from her spot behind them with V-Mon.

"You must be feeling better if you're dreaming about girls." Said Miss Fontain as she walked over.

"How is Night Shroud-I mean, Alexis' brother?" Jaden asked.

"I'm afraid he hasn't woken up yet." The woman said as they all looked over to the Rhodes siblings.

"But still, he's in stable condition." Fontain said.

**(The next day…)**

"Vampire?!" Chazz asked.

"Oh, come on! Seriously? I thought Myotismon was the only fanged freak I'd have to deal with." Dai pouted.

Sheppard had gathered Chazz, Bastion, Kotemon, Zane, Crowler, Banner and the duo of Miracles when Zane went into the infirmary and dragged the girl to the meeting.

Around campus, the students had all been gossiping about some vampire woman that had shown up at the school and only appeared at night.

"I'm afraid the rumours may not be rumours after all." Sheppard said.

"Oh, my." Banner said.

"Please! It must be a practical joke." Crowler said.

"A joke? It wasn't a joke that put Jaden in the hospital." Bastion said crossing his arms and looked down in thought.

"Do you think she's…a Shadow Rider?" Zane asked.

"Seems kind of obvious and likely." Flamedramon said.

"Perhaps, so listen. Be on the lookout for anything strange." Sheppard said feeling concern for his students and staff.

They all nodded in agreement, the two adults sharing nervous looks.

Later on, Dai was in the shower trying to think over what had been going on lately.

It was obvious that if she dueled any of these Shadow Riders that her best bet would be to use the Warriors of Light and Darkness to have more of an advantage.

"I really don't know what to do when I face one of these guys." She sighed as the water fell down on her and she rested a hand on the shower wall.

"I just have to keep focused and believe in myself and the others. We can do this." She said as her chocolate eyes were filled with determination.

While the maroon haired girl was washing up, she didn't notice that there was a bat hanging near the bathroom window, its red eyes glowing as it spied on her before it took off when she ended her shower.

That night, the group walked back to the Chancellor's office to have a meeting and give their reports.

"Good news, Chancellor. I searched the whole campus and there's no-"Chazz was cut off.

"Vampire!" a male cried out making everyone look over to the door in surprise.

It was Chumley who said it as he ran into the room.

"I saw her. She's at the lake." He said.

"Well, fang-freaking-tastic." Dai quipped.

The girl led the boys all off to the lake, the area covered in thick fog as they looked around for this vampire woman.

"I think she's expecting us." Bastion said as a red carpet rolled out over the lake.

"At least it's the red carpet treatment." Crowler said.

"Crimson red. How fitting." Zane said.

"She's mocking us." Kotemon said.

"What now?" Bastion asked as Crowler and Banner started creeping away.

"Now we face her." Zane said.

"Yeah, but who?" Chazz asked.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!" Dai yelled at the two adults making them jump in surprise and fear at being caught, Crowler being pushed ahead in front of the students.

"Oh, wow. You are so brave." Chumley said thinking the man had went up willingly.

"We'll be right behind you." Bastion said.

"Yes, by a good ten feet." Banner said.

"And this, my good friends, is why children are chosen to save the world." Dai said making Flamedramon and Kotemon chuckle as Zane gave her an amused look.

"Hey, I have an idea. Let's draw straws to see who goes. Now, where can we find some straws? Oh, never you mind. I'll find them, just don't follow me." Crowler said as he laughed nervously.

"Sorry, Crowler. You're up." Chazz said.

Chumley then ran off to go tell the others what was happening while the group stayed waiting until the vampire showed up.

"So, Crowler, what's the hold up?" Chazz asked the man that seemed frozen in fear.

"If you're in such a hurry, why don't you go first?" the man snapped at his student before a wind started blowing.

They all looked out to the lake as they saw a figure in a row boat with bats flapping around them.

"They're heeeeerrrrreeeee." The two digimon said in creepy voices like they were in some horror movie.

Bastion and Dai shared a look and sighed in exasperation at their partners' antics.

"Gentlemen and lady, why don't I just come to you." The vampire woman in a wine colored skin tight dress that flared out at the legs said.

She also had green hair, gold eyes, dark red lipstick and pointed ears.

She wore gold bracelets and a chocker around her neck that had the Eye of Horus on it.

She started walking down the red carpet to come after them, Zane unknowingly pulling Dai closer to himself to protect her, making the girl give him a confused look.

"Uh. And who might you be?" the vampire asked the man in front of her unimpressed.

"I'm your challenger." Crowler said.

The vampire looked bored, then her eyes flickered over to where the Kaiser and child of Miracles were standing.

"You are not worthy." The vampire said making Crowler freak out in an insulted way as Dai covered her mouth to hold in her laughter.

"I beg your pardon?! I have a P.H.D. in dueling! It takes nine years in duel school, you know!" Crowler yelled.

"Fine, if you're that anxious to lose your key, then you may duel me, Camula: Vampire Mistress of the Shadow Riders." The woman said with her right hand over her heart.

Her eyes glowed red as bats started flapping around her head.

"So she is a vampire. I need to get more horror movies." Banner said.

"Rubber bats and plastic teeth? Those tricks don't scare me." Crowler said.

"Well then, perhaps this will. If you lose, I get your soul. Well, actually, this little doll does." Camula said pulling out a hand sewn poppet that seemed more like a voodoo doll.

"You want to take his soul and the key?" Bastion asked n surprise.

"Welcome to the Shadow Games, where you win everything or lose everything. If ya can't get your game on, then hit the road, 'cause you'll get yourself killed." Dai said making the vampire give her look of interest in how she was so brave and unmoved by what was going on.

She also spied that not only did the Slifer Red girl have a key, but a necklace with the Eye of Horus on it.

"Yeah, well, she can forget it." Chazz said.

"Is that all? Don't want anything for your mummy? Perhaps something for your pet werewolf to chew on?" Crowler mocked.

"Be careful what you wish for, it may just come true. Now then, Key Keeper, let's duel." Camula said with a fanged smirk.

At the beginning of it, the students had a hard time believing that Crowler was actually the one who was chosen to teach them how to duel when he made very simple, small mistakes.

Camula gave him a chance to step down since she would rather have Zane or Dai as her competition, but Crowler refused, still raring to go, making Dai and the digimon cheer for him.

Sadly, the man was close to losing and was on the ground in pain from being attacked by the Vampire Bats.

"Crowler, we can't just stand here and do nothing." Zane said.

"Yes, I completely agree with you, darling. Please, step in. Save your teacher, because obviously he can't save himself." Camula said.

"Wrong!" the child of Darkness said.

"Jaden!" everyone cried as the boy rode in on Kyuubimon with Syrus, Alexis and Chumley.

"Doctor Crowler can win this duel." Jaden said as they all got off of the nine tailed fox, the boy leaning against his partner to stand up properly.

"I know that voice. It's Slacker." Crowler said.

"I know because I've dueled him. Believe me, he can throw down and he'll find a way to beat you! So get up Doctor Crowler and get your game on!" Jaden commanded as the man, touched by the confidence the boy had in him, forced himself up.

"I am not giving up." Crowler said once he was on his feet.

"Oh, are you still here?" Camula taunted.

"You had better believe it. I'm here to stay too, missy. You see, though it makes me slightly ill to admit it…JADEN IS ABOSOLUTELY RIGHT! I CAN BEAT YOU! I CAN THROW DOWN AND I CAN GET MY GAME ON! Bleh. I suddenly feel the need to rinse my mouth out." Crowler said.

"Come on. It's not that bad, teach." Jaden smiled.

"Yes, but you know what is? His Life Points." Bastion said.

"It's true. To win, Crowler will need to mount quite a comeback." Zane said.

"Here are a few words I never thought I'd say. Go, Crowler! You can do it! You can beat that chick with the bad accent! Go! Whoo hoo!" Dai cheered jumping around like she did when she encouraged Paildramon when he fought Okuwamon.

Crowler came back in the game with his Ancient Gear Golem, but Camula admitted that she knew their decks since she had her bats spying on them when they checked their decks, but Dai felt confident since she never checked her deck that day, so her moves were safe.

"My students, no matter what happens to me, remember this." Crowler said when he was close to losing.

"What the?" Syrus asked.

"It's true I may have been hard on you at times, but it's simply because I believe in you. Therefore, if I fall here, there's still hope 'cause I know you all win rise." Crowler said.

"Don't talk like that." Zane said.

"This isn't good." Jaden said.

"Have you finished your final lesson yet, Crowler?" Camula taunted.

"Excuse me, but that's Doctor to you!" he yelled at the woman.

"At least we can say he went down fighting like a true warrior." Kyuubimon said bowing her head in respect for the man.

"If you wish, I'll put it on your tomb stone as soon as I'm finished. Vampire Genesis, destroy his Golem!" Camula yelled making her monster do as she commanded.

She then had her Zombie Werewolf and Vampire Bat attack him, making his life Points quickly drop to 0 and he lost.

Dai covered her eyes as tears started falling making Zane pull her close to him, her back hitting his chest and she uncovered her eyes to watch the end of it.

"DOCTOR CROWLER!" Jaden yelled.

"Jaden, avenge me, my boy." Was the last thing the man said as he dropped to the ground defeated.

"His key is mine." Camula said as everyone glared at her.

"Nuh uh. No way!" Chazz said.

"We can't stop her. She won the duel." The Slifer King said sadly.

Camula walked over to the fallen man and took his key from around his neck.

"One down, seven to go." She said as the key glowed and faded away.

"And now, darling children, to take my second prize." She said standing up and holding up the poppet.

It was covered in violet flames along with Crowler and the poppet turned into a mini version of the man, showing that his soul was now trapped inside of it.

"She put Crowler's soul in a doll!" Syrus gasped.

"Dolls are pretty, this is decidedly not. It's garbage now." Camula said tossing the poppet to the ground.

"That's it!" Jaden yelled in anger, but he was stopped from doing anything by Zane holding his arm out in front of him and he gently moved Dai to the side, the cousins giving him worried looks.

"But Zane…" Jaden said.

"Now I bid farewell." Camula said.

The wind picked up and she faded away into the fog, the image of an old Transylvanian castle being shown as she left.

"We'll find you!" Bastion cried.

"And duel!" Chazz said.

"Children, that's precisely what I'm hoping for." Caumla said.

The last thing that was heard was her maniacal laughter as she disappeared and a swarm of bats flew off to the castle that appeared.

One thing was certain to all of the people who watched this.

They were going to find that woman to defeat her.

Nothing was going to stop them from achieving their goal.

To be continued…


	29. Zane's Demise

_We did it._

_We beat the evil and now it was time for all of us to part ways and go home._

_Takuya, Zoe Orimoto, Koji Minamoto, Koichi Kimura, JP Shibiyama and Tommy Himi's D-tectors all glowed as they turned into orbs and went back over to me and the marks of the Warriors on my back started burning and freezing._

"_Looks like that's our cue to leave." Ken said as he held Wormmon and V-Mon jumped up on my back._

"_Yeah. I'm really gonna miss you guys." I said to Takuya's team, Takato's team and Marcus' team._

"_It was great meeting you." Rika Nanoka, the girl who had a Renamon too said with a small smile._

"_I hope we get to do it again." Henry Wong said as he held hands with Takato, his partner Terriermon sitting on Guilmon's head._

"_Maybe if we're lucky, we will." Zoe said._

"_Yeah, if we're lucky." Mini Matt said._

"_Dude, of course we're gonna see you guys again." I said looking over to Tai's team._

"_We'll be seeing you guys when we get back to our time." Ken smiled._

_Tai, Takato, Takuya, Marcus and I all gathered into a group hug as everyone else talked to each other, saying their farewells to Taiki, the leader of this dimension's team of Digidestinds._

"_So, when are you and Zoe gonna get together?" I asked Takuya._

"_Wha-?" he asked as his face turned red._

"_WHAT?! What do you mean by that?" JP asked looking horrified._

"_Well, I was just asking. I mean, Agunimon and Kazemon are mates after all, so I assumed Takuya and Zoe were going to, well, be a couple too." I said unsure of why the goggle head and blonde girl were blushing furiously while Ken and Koichi were silently laughing._

_Everyone else seemed to be laughing outwardly at this, but I just shrugged at this as I looped arms with Ken._

"_Yeah, right! Like that's ever gonna happen." Takuya said._

"_In his dreams maybe." Zoe huffed as she had her hands on her hips, but both were still blushing as they stood side by side._

"_It's time for you guys to go now." Taiki said as he looked up at the sky._

"_Thanks for all of the help." He smiled._

"_It was our pleasure." Tai said._

"_If you guys need any more help, just give us a call." Marcus said with a thumbs up and smile._

"_Bye everyone!" Akari said waving to us._

_Lights then shot down from the sky, picking up the different groups and transporting us all back to our own worlds._

_Ken, Minomon, Chibimon and I all yelled as we were thrown out of my TV, me groaning in pain as the boys all landed on top of me._

"_Looks like the landing is always rough." Minamon said._

"_No matter what." Chibimon said._

"_Why am I always on the bottom?" I asked as Ken got off of me and took my hands, pulling me up._

"_Must be because you're the leader." He said._

"_Oh! The TV's back on!" Chibimon said as he vanished off to the kitchen and was back again with a bowel of popcorn and ground up cheddar powder._

_Minomon was also holding a tray of drinks that he held out for all of us._

_Ken and I laughed at that as we settled down to watch the movie of my parents dueling against each other in Duellist Kingdom._

"I'll play a trap, and then I'll play a spell and then I'll attack! Well, just as soon as I get better I will." Jaden said as everyone stood or sat around his bed in the clinic.

"Camula's gonna get it sooner or later. I mean, taking that Spirit Key is one thing, but Crowler's soul too?" the child of Darkness continued ranting as Renamon sat at his side.

Chazz was holding the poppet with their teacher's soul inside of it, looking it over, unsure of what to do with it.

"Jay, you really oughta rest." Syrus said.

"Syrus is right. After all, if we're not at our best, it's our souls that will be sealed in those dolls and others will be catatonic." Banner said shaking in fear and accidentally gripped Pharaoh too hard, making the cat yowl in pain and anger.

Pharaoh jumped out of his arms and hid under Jaden's bed.

"No, Pharaoh." Banner said crawling under the bed with him.

"Just because the world had cats in it, doesn't mean it applies to you. Though, I'm not sure nine lives makes a difference with vampires." He said.

"Aw, man." Syrus sulked.

"The worst part is…since Camula was able to take Crowler's key; she needs just 7 more to unleash those Beast Cards." Bastion said making everyone look at him.

"And then it won't just be our souls at stake, but everyone's in the world." Alexis said from her seat at Atticus' side as she stared at her brother.

"That's it! I'm dueling her tonight." Jaden said.

"You duel? Think again. You can't even win a fight with a sheet." Chazz said as he pulled the white blanket up over the Slifer King's head.

"This duel is for the Chazz." He said pointing at himself with his thumb.

"Hold on. Hold on. There! I won." Jaden said pulling the blanket off.

"You did not. It's two out of three." Chazz said pulling the blanket back over him and pushed him back onto the bed.

"Come on, Jaden. You can do it!" Syrus encouraged.

"Look, Jaden's not up to snuff. One of us is gonna have to face Camula." Chazz said.

"And by us, you mean you, correct? I'm sorry, Chazz, but I'm not entirely convinced you're the man for the job. I should go." Bastion said while Jaden kept trying to free himself from the sheets that were tangled around him.

"You?" Chazz asked.

"Almost got it. Man, what thread count is this?" Jaden grunted.

"Shut it." Chazz said.

"Sure. I need the break." The dual brunette said.

"And what we need is to work together." Alexis said as Jaden poked his head out from under the sheets.

"Protecting the keys and getting Crowler's soul back is all that matters." She said as she stood and the boys who were standing nodded.

"All right, all right. I'll sit out till I get better." Jaden sighed as he covered his head.

Zane, who had been in a corner with the duo of Miracles as they remained silent, got up and walked out of the room.

Syrus took notice of his brother's leave with a concerned look.

"Hey, Zane. Wait up!" he called getting up and chasing after his brother.

Alexis looked over to Dai, worried about the blank look she had on her face, the girl's eyes closed.

She seemed to be in a trance of some sort.

"Dai? You OK?" she asked shaking the girl's shoulder.

Chocolate eyes snapped open and looked into the blonde's eyes.

"I'm going to get some fresh air." She said standing up, Flamedramon at her side as they walked out of the room.

They walked down to the lake and found that Zane was there too.

He looked over at them.

"What're you two doing here?" he asked.

"I can ask you the same thing." The Slifer Queen said.

"I'm going to be facing Camula next. You can try to convince me otherwise, but it won't work." The Kaiser said.

"Fine, but don't pout if I say 'I told you so'." Dai said.

Zane looked at her and saw the look of worry she held, Flamedramon turned his back on them to give them some privacy.

"You don't have anything to worry about. I'm not going to lose." He hand placing a hand under her chin and turning her head to make her face him and he was startled to see the tears.

"It doesn't stop me from still worrying." She sniffled wipping away her tears with her fisted hands looking much younger than she was.

Zane's eyes softened as she took hold of her hands and pulled her into his chest, hugging her.

She gasped in surprise as she was enveloped in his warmth and Musky Ocean like scent.

"I promise you, everything will turn out for the best." He said.

Dai gripped at his white and blue jacket as she tried to force the tears back.

"I think this is some sort of sign…that vampires are trying to ruin my life. First was Myotismon when he kidnapped my parents and I when I was 6 with plenty of other people, then when he tried to kill me when I was 10 and now some wannabe Queen of the Night is taking the souls of more people I care about." She said.

"I didn't know you cared about Crowler." Zane grinned trying to lighten the tense mood.

"He's grown on me. Not so much of a bad guy when you get past the arrogance and flamboyant attitude. He did risk himself to protect us after all. He deserves to be seen as one of my special people." Dai said.

"And I'm one of them? Who would've thought?" Zane said as he rubbed her back.

Flamedramon shook his head and sighed knowing that if Matt and Tai were seeing this it would take the efforts of Greymon and Garurumon to hold them back from killing the Kaiser.

No one would be able to stop the male Warriors, though.

It was a wonder how they weren't in their transparent forms glaring daggers at Zane for initiating the hug with Dai right at that very moment.

"You're my friend. All of my friends are my special people." Dai said.

The two stayed like that for another few seconds before they pulled away and looked out to the water, waiting for Camula to make her next move.

The trio stood there as the fog rolled in and bats started flapping around in the sky.

The others all made it and Dai glared at them for bringing Jaden, who was piggy backing on Chumley.

The red carpet was rolled out on the lake, the castle showing through the fog, so the group all started walking on it, Zane and Dai in front of everyone else as they went.

"Explain to me again why we're going to this place instead of running away from it." Chumley whimpered as they made it to the gate that was pulled up to allow them passage.

"Or walking away." The heavyset boy continued as they walked up the stone stairway.

"Aw, now we gotta do stairs?" he groaned.

"Chum, you either shut up willingly or I'll shut your mouth for you." Dai threatened with a glare that made him shrink back.

"Quiet. We're close." Zane said as they walked down an old stone hallway that was lit with torches that were at the bottom of the stone pillars.

Everyone was tense as they remained quiet as they neared the end of the hallway, seeing what looked like a manor with the big open room with the grand staircases, windows and balconies on either side of the room.

"Ah, right on time." Came the vampire's voice.

Zane walked ahead while everyone stayed behind him, the teal haired male looking for the woman.

She then appeared on one of the balconies.

"Looking for me?" she asked as the others stepped into the room.

"You bet we are. We want Crowler back." Jaden said.

"Got that right, so hand him over." Chazz said.

"Yes or else." Bastion said.

"I have no interest in little school boys." Camula said.

"She must mean you." Bastion said looking at Chazz.

"No, she means you!" the Raven Slifer said.

"Are you ready, darling?" Camula asked looking down at Zane.

"Let's duel." He said.

"Good luck, bro." Syrus said.

Zane walked up onto the balcony facing Camula and got ready for the duel as she pulled out another poppet.

"Let's review. If you win, you get Crowler's soul back and I'll be on my way. But if I win, I get your soul, your Spirit Key and I get to continue my quest to unleash the three Sacred Beasts." Camula said as they readied their decks and duel disks.

Zane seemed to be close to winning, but problems arose when Camula got a hold of Syrus, threatening to take his soul.

Syrus said it was fine if he won the duel at the risk of him being lost, but Zane wouldn't allow it to happen and even told Syrus that he loved him.

Camula, who had taken control of Zane's Cyber End Dragon, used it to take out the rest of Zane's Life Points, freeing Syrus, but ending him.

"Zane, no!" Bastion cried.

"STOP! TAKE ME!" Syrus cried.

"ZANE!" Dai yelled with tears in her eyes.

"Big brother!" Syrus called as Zane dropped to his knees and his key was taken, disappearing.

He was covered in violet flames like the poppet in Camula's hand and his soul was gone.

"Oh no." Jaden said as Syrus fell to his knees crying.

"At last, darling, you're all mine. A tad smaller and a smidge less talkative, but a darling trophy none the less." Camula said she looked over the poppet that now looked like Zane.

Camula cackled as she faded away, everyone leaving the castle with down spirits.

The red carpet faded away, leaving them no way to return to the castle until Camula decided to strike at them once again.

"Just like that." Syrus whispered as he was clinging to Dai's waist, the two of them with tears in their eyes.

"He's gone." He whimpered as Jaden fell to his hands and knees beside them.

"That's it!" he said as his eyes once again flashed gold as he felt the rage and power of Darkness rising inside of him.

"Jaden?" Syrus asked.

"You hear me? No more, Camula! I'm through with you messing with my friends! Got that! What you did to Crowler, to Zane! It stops here and I'm gonna be the one who stops it." Jaden said.

"Like Horus you are." Dai said letting go of Syrus as she stood up, her eyes burning in anger.

"The next time we see her, I'm dueling." She said making everyone gasp.

"You hear me, you pasty faced witch?! You messed with the wrong girl!" she yelled out to the water like her cousin had been doing.

"If you wanna see true Darkness, then I'll show it to you!" she yelled.

Lowemon then appeared at her side along with Lobomon, both nodding at each other in agreement.

"Dai." Alexis said softly.

Jaden looked at his cousin, recognizing the familiar aura she held when she was faced with any problems with the Digital World and knew that the Leader of the Digidestinds was back and ready for action.

"You just wait and see." Dai said.

To be continued…


	30. The Power of Darkness and Light

Dai was in her bedroom sleeping, a frown on her face as a dark mist seemed to be covering her in a thin layer.

Flamedramon was sleeping curled up in a corner, unaware of what was going on, but the Warriors were around their Master with looks of worry.

"_This can't be possible…can it?"_ Kazemon asked as she clung to her mate's arm.

"_I don't know."_ Agunimon said as his eyes narrowed.

"_We should have seen this coming."_ Beetlemon said.

"_It was inevitable that he would be making a comeback."_ Mercurymon said.

"_But why did it take him this long to come?"_ Kumamon asked.

"_He isn't here yet."_ Lobomon said.

"_What do ya mean, sugar?"_ Ranamon asked curiously looking up at the male.

"_He's trying to make a comeback, but he's having trouble doing so. He's weak right now, but he'll get stronger soon if he bides his time."_ Lowemon said glaring down at the mist that was covering the girl.

"_The exposure to da Shadow Games must've woke him up, right?"_ Arbormon asked.

"_What do now when he comes?"_ Grumblemon asked scratching his head.

No one answered since they had no idea how what to say.

They all faded away back to the deck, leaving Dai stuck in her dreams.

_Darkness is all that I saw._

_I was standing in an area covered in nothing but darkness and the air was chilled, making me shiver as I rubbed at the goose bumps that were on my arms and exposed legs._

"_Hello? Is anyone there?" I called walking further into the dark, seeing nothing._

_For a second, I thought I saw a flash of red eyes and turned to face them, but they were gone._

"_Lowemon? Is that you? Someone answer me!" I called as my voice echoed around me._

"You can't find me."_ A deep voice said._

_I gasped and turned, looking for who was speaking, but no one was there._

"It's my destiny to forever be lost in the dark…no chance of being found."_ He said._

_My eyes narrowed as I strained my ears to listen to his voice, walking in the direction it came from._

"_Keep talking, I'll find you that way." I said._

"_Stay away!" he yelled as something shot away from me._

_It was right in front of me, but it took off as soon as I got close, cold metal brushing against my arm as it did so._

_I spun around, trying to follow what it was, but it was gone._

_Just what is this?_

Dai's eyes snapped open and she sat up in bed, a confused look on her face, not even seeing the mist around her that quickly evaporated.

"What was that about?" she asked rubbing at her eyes to get the sleep out of them.

she looked over at the darkened skies and flung her sheets off before she went to go shower to wake herself up some more.

Flamedramon heard the sound of the water falling and opened his pretty red eyes, getting up to stretch his muscles as he waited for his partner to come out.

Twenty minutes later she came out dressed in one of her regular outfits, not a uniform.

She wore a pair of beige shorts, white socks, black convers, a blue spaghetti strapped shirt that had gold feathers decorating the front, her Spirit Key, her regular necklace and she tied her short hair up in a ponytail, her bangs brushed to the side.

"De-digivolve, OK?" she said to Flamedramon as she pulled on a pair of fingerless black gloves.

The dragon was covered in orange light as he shrunk and turned back into V-Mon.

"So what's the plan?" he asked as he watched his partner getting her deck and duel disk.

She put her D-3 and D-terminal in her pockets, ready to move out.

"We're going to face Camula right now before Jaden has a chance to tag along. I'm not risking the others coming with me since that freak will play dirty by throwing their souls on the line." Dai said as she walked out of her room, V-Mon following her.

"They're not gonna be happy when they hear about you ditching them." He said.

"I can't risk them." She said.

They walked off to the lake, spotting the castle, but the red carpet wasn't rolled out yet.

Dai pulled her D-terminal out and started typing the buttons, bringing up a list of the digi eggs.

A few years ago, Azulongmon had told them that the Digidestinds with D-3s were able to use any of the other digi eggs, which made them all amazed.

Dai had been the first to get over her shock and started trying out one of the other digi eggs, and was in awe of the new forms V-Mon had.

She looked very much like a child on Christmas morning that day that Kari had to take a picture to document how adorable she looked.

"This one's perfect." She said choosing the digi egg of Light.

"You ready?" she asked with a smile down at her partner.

"It's like you don't even know me." V-Mon joked with an eager smile.

She laughed at that.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"V-Mon armour digivolve too…"

The dragon was covered in amethyst light as the images of Gatomon, Angewomon and Nefertimon passed over him as he grew and transformed.

"Gargoylemon: the Messenger of Angels!"

The new Celestial digimon was covered in pure white glowing light; his angel wings spread and ready to take flight.

"I'm ready to go now, Dai." He said to his partner.

She nodded as he picked her up gently in his arms, holding her like she was made of fine glass and he took to the air.

The light around him cut through the fog as he soared over to the castle, going over the closed gate and swooping down to the opening to the castle.

Gargoylemon landed on his feet and let Dai down, allowing her to walk the rest of the way into the castle.

"Hey, Camula! Get out here now!" she yelled into the room.

She watched the balcony as the vampire walked out, looking down at the human girl in interest.

"Well, hello my dear. Ready to lose?" she asked with a mocking smile.

"I'm ready to get my friends' souls back!" Dai said pointing at her with a glare.

"So confident. How about we make things more interesting." Camula said as Dai and Gargoylemon walked up to the next balcony.

"Like what?" the child of Miracles asked.

"If you win, you get your friends' souls back, like promised, but…if I win, you come with me and become…a Shadow Rider!" Camula said as her eyes flashed red.

"Dai, are you sure about this?" Gargoylemon asked.

"I appreciate the concern, buddy, but I'll be fine. I won't let her win. You can count on it." Dai said with a smile.

The Celestial nodded, putting his faith in his partner to beat the evil woman with ease.

"I accept your challenge, Camula." Dai said as the two women got their duel disks and decks ready.

"Duel!" they said.

"I,ll go first." Dai said playing her card.

"I summon the Legendary Warrior of Darkness, Lowemon! But I'll also use the magic card Slide Evolution to up him to the next level. JaggerLowemon: the Beast of Darkness!" she said.

The lion appeared in waves of violet and black flames, roaring at the vampire in front of him.

"Ah, so you do have darkness in you. See, you would make a wonderful Shadow Rider." Camula said.

"I'm not done yet. JaggerLowemon, attack now!" Dai cried.

JaggerLowemon snarled as the lasers on his body started glowing and he charged at Camula, taking out half of her Life Points.

She shrieked from the loss of her Life Points, just as Jaden, Reppamon, Alexis, Banner, Syrus, Bastion, Kotemon and Chumley ran into the room.

"Dai!" Syrus cried.

"All right, she's got JaggerLowemon out. This is perfect." Jaden smiled at the Beast of Darkness.

"Jaden, who is that white digimon over there." Alexis asked pointing to the mysterious creature covered in pure light.

"That is Gargoylemon: the Messenger of Angels. V-Mon used the digi egg of Light to transform into this Celestial beast, which was a smart idea considering who we are dealing with." Reppamon said.

"Man, why didn't I think to use the digi egg of Light? We could've flown over." Jaden said

"What the Horus are you guys doing here? I came alone for a reason." Dai called down to her friends.

"We came to help." Alexis said.

"Yes, we can't simply allow you to do this all alone." Bastion said.

"We're your friends. We had to come." Kotemon said.

Dai sighed and shook her head at that.

"How sweet. You'll all get to see your friend lose and join the ranks of the Shadow Riders to replace Night Shroud." Camula said.

"What're you talking about?" Chazz asked.

"It's true." Gargoylemon said.

"If Dai loses this duel, she will not lose her soul, but become a Shadow Rider. That was the deal." He said.

"Daisuke." Banner said worried.

"No." Alexis said sadly.

"You can't do that!" Syrus cried.

"Who else is gonna cook for us anytime we ask?" Chumley asked as everyone gave him a look.

"I'm doing this for Zane and Crowler. I care about both of them and I'm willing to risk myself to save them." Dai said.

The Crowler doll that had his soul sealed inside looked close to crying.

"_Oh, Slacker's cousin!"_ he bawled.

"Oh, shut up." Chazz snapped at the doll.

"Finally, I'll play a face down and end my turn." Dai said.

"Well, well. If you're so eager to lose…I'll go. And I play Illusion Gate! I'm sure you remember it's effects. To begin, all monsters on the field are instantly destroyed, then I get to summon any monster you've played and all I need-"

"Actually, that's not gonna work." Dai said cutting the vampire off.

"What do you mean?" Camula asked.

"I knew you were gonna play that, so I just anticipated it. My face down in Zephyr Sweep and it destroys all spell and traps." Dai said as she played the card, the feathers destroying the Illusion Gate.

"Yes! She did it!" Syrus cheered.

"When she plays, she plays hard." Jaden smiled.

"A well-executed move." Camula said.

"I'm not giving you time to play any of your monsters. I'm ending this quickly." Dai said.

"I play another face down and end my turn." She said.

"I'll summon Zombie Werewolf in ATK Mode." Camula said.

"Don't you have a stronger monster? JaggerLowemon has high ATK Points." Dai said.

"Oh, I have more planned for him." Camula smirked.

"I sacrifice JaggerLowemon to allow me to play Lobomon: the Warrior of Light!" Dai said.

The wolf like male appeared in a swarm of lights, his eyes glaring at Camula and scoffed at her werewolf.

"What?" Camula asked.

"Why would Dai give up a powerful monster to bring out a weaker one?" Bastion asked.

"It's the effects." Jaden said.

"Now that Lobomon is out, I can play my face down Fusion Evolution!" Dai said.

"Fusion Evolution? Isn't that the card she used to make Aldamon?" Syrus asked.

Chazz looked confused while the others thought back to the Warrior that created the huge second sun and won the duel against Harrington.

"The two most powerful cards in her deck are the Warriors of Light and Flame." Jaden stated.

"Fusion Evolution allows me to fuse together the Human and Beast Spirits of Light to create…" Dai trailed off.

KendoGarurumon and Lobomon were both covered in blinding lights that made everyone cover their eyes as Camula hissed in pain from the power she was feeling.

Gargoylemon's wings spread out as the light seemed to be making him stronger and the spectators felt safe and comforted.

"BEOWOLFMON!" Dai cried.

The light faded away to view the new Warrior that looked like a more powerful version of Lobomon.

"Let me show you who the alpha wolf is! FROZEN HUNTER!" Dai called.

Beowolfmon held up his golden blade as blue flames appeared, shaping into a wolf with red eyes.

It howled as it charged at Camula, destroying her Zombie Werewolf and took out the rest of her Life Points.

"NO!" she cried as immense pain filled her.

"She did it!" Syrus and Chumley cheered.

"What power." Banner said amazed.

"That's what makes her the child of Miracles." Jaden said as Reppamon smiled.

"We really didn't have anything to worry about." Alexis sighed happily.

"You were awesome, Beowolfmon. Thanks a lot for the help." Dai said smiling at her Warrior.

"_Hey, I needed to get out and work out anyway."_ He said making her laugh before she looked over to Camula, turning serious.

"All right you snake, you know the deal. Give us back Crowler and Zane." Dai said.

"Fine…but I warn you…this isn't the end. The Shadow Riders will be back." Camula said.

Then she turned to dust, her necklace and Zane's doll being the only things left.

"Now what?" Gargoylemon asked.

Zane's doll was then covered in violet flames and he was turned back to normal.

"Oh, big bro!" Syrus gasped as he and the others all ran over.

Gargoylemon picked up Dai as Beowolfmon faded away, all of them going over to the check on the unconscious male.

"Zane?" Dai asked as she gently picked the male's head up, brushing his bangs out of his face.

Crowler also turned back to normal, kneeling on the ground and clinging to Chazz's waist.

"I'm back! I'm superb! Now get me out of this stinking pocket." he cried.

Chazz then started arguing with him, trying to shove him off as the others watched in amusement.

Just then, the castle started to shake and dust fell on their heads.

"The castle is falling apart!" Alexis cried as Gargoylemon picked up the still unconscious Kaiser, then gathered up Dai, Bastion, Syrus, Alexis and Kotemon.

"Reppamon, time to digivolve." Jaden said as the fox turned back to normal.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"Renamon armour digivolve too…"

She was covered in yellow light as the images of Patamon, Angemon and MagnaAngemon faded over her.

"Unimon: Hopeful Guardian of the Sky!"

Jaden, Chazz, Crowler and Chumley all mounted the winged horse and followed the Celestial out of the castle as it fell, the two digimon flying off at break neck speeds away from it as they made it to the island safely.

They all got off the digimon as Zane began to stir and they watched as the castle crumbled.

"Hey, what happened?" Zane asked as he saw he was resting against Dai.

"Big bro, you lost against Camula, but Dai saved you and Crowler." Syrus said.

Zane's metal eyes looked up into those chocolate covered ones of the SLifer Queen who was dressed in blue and he noted how the color fitted her better than red.

"I told you so." She said with a smirk that he returned.

Unimon and Gargoylemon turned back into Renamon and V-Mon, the dragon's stomach growling loudly.

"I'm hungry." He whined.

"Oh, me too." Chumley said as everyone laughed.

To be continued…


	31. The Boy Cloaked in Darkness

"_OK, this is quickly getting old." I said as I was stuck in the darkness again, walking around._

"Why are you here?"_ the male voice asked._

"This is no place for someone like you."_ He said._

"_Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean, huh?" I asked looking around._

_There was a flash of red and yellow and I walked over to where I saw it and was able to spot the form of someone sitting with their knees drawn up to their chest, arms wrapped around his knees and head bent._

_Whoever this guy was, he preferred black and that's what made it hard to see him before._

"_Who are you?" I asked kneeling down in front of him._

_Slowly, he lifted his head, crimson red meeting my chocolate brown._

_He looked like a cute teenage boy with long flowing blonde hair tied back with some bangs in his face and he was dressed in a black t-shirt with a dog color around his neck that was black and he had one on each arm, black jeans and black combat boots._

_Finally, his skin was really pale white that it looked like he had never been out in the sunlight, but it also seemed to glow in the darkness with his eyes and hair._

"_Why've you been hiding from me? I can't see anything wrong with you." I said._

_He scoffed and looked off to the side._

"This isn't my true form. If you were to see it, you would surely run off in fear."_ He said._

_His voice sounded a lot like Lowemon's, only it was more gruff than his._

"_I'm not scared of anything. I'm Daisuke, by the way. Who are you?" I asked with a small smile._

_He kept quiet, not wanting to meet my gaze._

"Just leave. You don't belong in this miserable setting. Go run along to your friends."_ He said._

_I mentally growled in annoyance at that._

_Aug! _

_This guy is so frustrating!_

_What is his deal?_

"_You know that whole brooding bad boy thing you got going on? Not as hot as some people think it is. Plus, it makes you look way too much like a vampire." I said._

"Guess that means you hate me."_ He said startling me._

_What?_

"_How did you know I hate vampires?" I asked._

"I've been with you for five years now, you just never noticed."_ He said standing up to his full height with his back to me._

"_What is that supposed to mean? How could you have been with me for five years if I never met you before in my life?" I asked standing up._

"Why don't you ask my so called baby brothers? I'm sure they'd love to explain this to you."_ He huffed disdainfully as he stormed off, fading away into the dark._

"_Wait!" I called starting to run after him._

_Time seemed to slow down for me as slowly he inched further away from me._

_Just what is happening around here?_

_Who is that guy and why can't he just tell me who is he?_

_I stopped running as he faded away from me and started to think about what he said._

"_Brothers? Do I know his brothers?" I asked myself._

Dai's eyes opened as the sunlight filled the room.

She groaned as she pushed herself up in bed, looking over to see Flamedramon was in the corner near the window, the sunlight reflecting off of his blades.

She smiled at her partner, then frowned looking down at her lap as she thought back to her dream.

"Lowemon." She called softly.

The Warrior of Darkness faded in feeling slightly nervous, but tried not to show it on his face.

"_You called?" _he asked.

She looked up at him in frustration and worry.

"Do you…I've been having nightmares lately." She said.

"_Yes, I know."_ He said nodding.

"Who is he? He looks like he needs some help or at least a friend, but when I tried to, he just…blew me off." Dai said sadly as she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Lowemon sighed, unsure of what to do or say.

He knew who she was dreaming about, but he didn't know how to get inside her subconscious when _he_ was there to help her out.

"_Did you really see him face to face?"_ he asked sitting on the bed beside her.

"He said it wasn't his real form. He was human, but he said his real form would freak me out for some reason. He also said that he's been with me for five years and he knows me. Who is he? He also said he has baby brothers. Who are they for that matter?" the child of Miracles asked mostly herself as she thought hard on this.

He kept quiet, unsure of what to say to her.

He knew who this person was, but he didn't know what to say to her or tell her.

She was convinced that the Darkness was'nt evil, but now that _he_ was back, how can she keep this belief?

Ranamon then appeared and she looked distressed about something.

"What's up, Rana?" Dai asked as Flamedramon stirred awake, but kept on snoozing.

"_I felt something weird in the water."_ Ranamon said.

"Weird in the water?" Dai asked.

"_A Shadow Game is starting up again."_ Lowemon said.

The Warrior of Water grabbed her Master's hand and suddenly they were transported to some underwater cavern where Jaden, Chumley, Syrus and Chazz were.

"Huh? When'd you get here?" the bluenette asked.

"Ranamon said she felt a disturbance in the water and brought me here." Dai said looking down at herself to see she was still in her blue plaid shorts and white baggy t-shirt that slipped off her left shoulder.

"What's going on here?" Chazz asked.

Dez Koala, Winged Kuriboh and Ojama Yellow were sitting together down in the cavern too along with all of the Warriors who came out to take a look around.

Strange thing though is that they were all solid, not transparent like usual.

"Huh? How're we back in our clothes?" Chumley asked.

"I don't wanna know." Agunimon, Beetlemon and Dai said disturbed.

"My glasses! I can't see without my glasses." Syrus said as he fumbled around for them.

Dez Koala growled as he picked up the glasses and handed them to the boy.

"Aw, thanks, Chumley." He said since he couldn't see properly.

"We're in some kind of spirit world." Chumley said as he looked around.

"Wait a sec. Chumley?" Syrus asked wondering why his voice was coming from away from him.

He put his glasses on and then looked behind him, only to yell in shock when he saw who was there.

"Dez Koala?!" he asked.

"_Nice digs."_ Agunimon said making the bluenette look at him too.

"It's like a bunch of Duel Monster cards have come alive." Chazz said.

"Cool, huh?" Ojama Yellow asked as he floated down by his Master's side.

"How bizarre." Jaden said.

"Who're you calling bizarre?" a familiar voice asked making them all look around for who spoke.

They gasped when suddenly a man who looked a lot like Seto Kaiba when he was a teenager was there with long flowing hair and a helmet that looked similar to the Blue Eyes White Dragon's head.

"It's Kaibaman!" Ojama Yellow cried.

"Kaibamon?" Jaden asked.

"Is that a joke?" Dai deadpanned while Kumamon hopped up on her back.

"As in the Duel Monsters card? Wait, so, are you the one who brought us all here? The one that's in charge of this place? Hey, wait. It's all some Shadow Rider's scheme!" the child of Darkness said as he stood up.

Kaibaman smirked at the boy.

"You ask a lot of questions, but I'm afraid you won't get any answers, unless you take me on in a duel now." He said as his duel disk glowed and expanded, ready for the match.

Jaden frowned as he got his disk and deck ready too.

"From the looks of you, I'd say you accept my challenge, but from what I sense, I'm not so sure. I sense fear." Kaibaman said as Dai looked to see her cousin sweating.

"Yes, deep fear that you'll lose and you and your friends will pay most dearly." He said.

"What's this guy talking about, Jaden?" Chumley asked as all eyes fell on the nervous boy.

"This is about your dream, isn't it, Jaden?" Syrus asked worried as Dai gave them a curious look.

"Look, if you're all scared, I'll duel him." Chazz said.

"No? Not backing down? Well, then you can look forward to facing this card." Kaibaman said as he pulled out the Blue Eyes White Dragon, stunning everyone.

"The Blue Eyes White Dragon? But…how did…" Jaden trailed off wondering how the man could have gotten his hands on one of his father's main and cherished cards.

"That's one powerful beast. You know, on second thought, I think I'll sit this one out." Chazz said.

"Aw, man." Syrus sighed.

"Can we go back to the pool now?" Chumley asked.

"What's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost, Jaden." Kaibaman said.

"Try a nightmare, but still, I won't run!" Jaden said.

"Now, Kaibaman,let's give all these monsters a show." He said.

"Show him what you're made of, Jaden. You have no reason to fear these Shadow Games. They come from the power of Darkness, but Jay, you're the child of Darkness. The Prince of Darkness. No one else understands it power better than you do." Dai said making everyone turn to her.

"You've never been afraid of anything, namely the dark, ever. Don't start being scared now. We're all right here to help you when you need it. Don't worry so much. You can do this Jaden." She said smiling.

"Besides…that card's nothing you haven't seen and dueled against a million times with your father." She said.

Jaden smiled back at her, thankful that he had her there to help him out.

He looked back at her, two pairs of chocolate brown eyes meeting as they smiled.

"Father? What does that mean?" Chazz asked curiously.

"Oh, didn't you know?" Syrus asked.

"Jaden is Seto Kaiba's son." He said.

"WHAT?!" the Raven Slifer asked startled.

"But wait…if that Slacker is Kaiba's son and she's his cousin, then that means…Daisuke's the daughter of the King of Games?!" he asked pulling at his hair.

"_Pretty much."_ Beetlemon shrugged.

"_Wow. I wonder how Crowler's gonna act when he hears about this."_ Kumamon said.

"_I bet he's going to faint like when he sees the digimon."_ Agunimon smirked.

"_That'll be a sight worth seeing."_ Lobomon said.

"Are you all done yet?" Kaibaman asked.

"Yeah and you better get your game on, Kaibaman." Jaden said.

It was a good duel, with Jaden fighting against the Blue Eyes, but he did have some trouble.

Kaibaman seemed to actually be helping Jaden get over his fears rather than making him feel worse.

It must have been because Kaibaman was based off of Seto Kaiba himself, and he felt that bond for the man's son.

Sadly, in the end, Jaden lost the duel.

The boy was on the ground weak from the lost while the boys were sitting with all of the other Duel Monsters, Dai watching as she held the Warrior of Ice in her arms.

Jaden looked up at Kaibaman as he walked over in front of him, Winged Kuriboh hovering over his Master's head.

"Defeat is nothing to be scared of, Jaden. What matters is if you can get up after." Kaibaman said.

"Wait! Are you telling me this entire duel was to teach me that?" Jaden asked as he stood up seeing the man smiling down at him.

"Tell me; are you afraid now?" Kaibaman asked.

"Actually, no, I'm really not." Jaden smiled.

"And do you know why? Because you faced it. you lost and you're OK." The man said.

"Yeah, I am, huh?" Jaden said thoughtfully.

"Jay!" Syrus called making him look over.

"Jaden!" Chumley called as he, Syrus, Dai and Chazz ran over to him.

"And so are they." Kaibaman said.

"Syrus, Chumley. I think I'm finally over my bad dream." Jaden said rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I'm over this place. Can we please get out of this weird spirit cave?" Chazz asked crossing his arms with a frown.

"Its low rent." He said making Chumley and Syrus give him worried looks as Dai laughed.

"Uh, Kaibaman, think you can help us out here?" Jaden asked.

There was no response as they looked to see he was gone along with the monsters, except for the Warriors and Winged Kuriboh.

"Where'd he go?" Chumley asked as the fog rolled in around them.

They spotted Kaibaman walking away, hiding in the fog.

"If you're looking for help, ask your friend Kuriboh. After all, he's the one that brought you down here. Goodbye, Jaden." Kaibaman said as he fully faded away.

"Really, Kuriboh?" Jaden asked his second partner that cooed.

"Just close our eyes and wish for it?" Jaden asked.

"_I'll take Dai-chan back myself. See y'all later."_ Ranamon said as she clung to the mahogany haired girl.

The Warriors all faded away as water whipped around the nymph and her Master, the two of them appearing in the Slifer Queen's dorm room.

"That worked." Dai said.

She went out of her room and saw that the sun was setting and saw that the boys were now walking back to the dorm, Kuriboh and Dez Koala with them in transparent form.

"By the way, Sy, I still have your towel." Jaden said as he pulled out the towel and whipped the shorter boy with it.

He yelped as Jaden ran over to the dorm laughing, Flamedramon finally getting up from his sleep and Renamon appeared as well.

"What'd we miss?" the dragon asked.

"A lot!" the cousins said together.

"Would you care to tell us?" Renamon asked as the other two boys walked up the steps of their dorm.

"Man, time really passes when you're in a different dimension place." Chumley said as they all watched the sunset.

They all smiled as they stood there and just relaxed.

To be continued…


	32. Family

_And yet again here I am stuck in the darkness and found that guy again sitting alone and he was singing._**(By the way, whoever guesses this song right gets the next chapter dedicated to them and a digital cookie. Not sure how that works, but I wanted to say it.)**

"If I were a bird then I'd be free

Free to leave this misery

Now that I know that you're around

I'll stay away without a sound

Silence set within my soul

Nothing left

Nothing left to make me whole

To try again and start a new

To make the change to help me through

And as the rain begins to fall

Casting shadows on the wall

I close my eyes and dare the thunder

To break the spell that I've been under

Escape a world that cannot see

That all that's empty lies in me

To try again and start anew

And make the change to help me through

Makes me want to fly away

No reasons left to make me stay

To quit before I even start

To leave this

Darkness in my Heart!"

_It sounded powerful, soothing and heartbreakingly beautiful._

"Finally, some peace and quiet." Chazz sighed as he sat on his bed with his back facing the door.

"What's up?" Jaden asked startling the Raven Slifer, making him turn to see Jaden, Dai, Syrus, Renamon and Flamedramon.

They had heard yelling and complaining and followed it to Chazz's dorm where they saw him ending an argument with Ojama Yellow.

"Ever hear of knocking?!" he demanded.

"Uh, we did, but, uh, your door's way over there." Syrus said pointing to the wooden door that was leaning against the outside wall of the dorm.

Chazz's cheeks grew pink in embarrassment as the Slifer trio and digimon laughed at him.

"Not funny." He said.

"Yeah, I guess not. So let's go for fun." Jaden said as he and Syrus kicked off their shoes and jumped over the green love seat that was blocking the door and started jumping on the bed, making the raven haired boy bounce around.

"Get off my bed! It's not a trampoline!" he yelled as the boys giggled as Dai watched them with a grin.

"By the way..." Jaden started.

"The Chancellor…" Syrus said.

"Wants to see you." Dai finished.

"Chancellor Sheppard?! What for?" Chazz asked as he was still bounced.

"Oh, something about the fate of Duel academy." The child of Darkness said.

"So, the usual." Dai said with a shrug.

**(Later…)**

"I have some urgent news, Chazz." Sheppard said as he turned in his chair to face the four Slifers, two digimon and Banner as he sat in the corner brushing Pharaoh.

"It's about time. My new bed's arrive?" Chazz asked.

"Cool. What do you say we go jump around on it?" Jaden suggested.

"This isn't about your living arrangements." Banner said.

"Yeah, then what?" Chazz asked.

"Well, someone is trying to…buy out the academy and this someone…plans to get rid of all the teachers and students and shut this place down forever!" Sheppard said in despair.

"Shut it down?" Chazz asked.

"Why?" Jaden asked.

"Because…they can control the entire dueling world. But fortunately our owner, your father Jaden, has given us a sporting chance." Sheppard said.

"Go Dad." Jaden said with a grin.

"It comes down to one duel." Banner said.

"Let me. I'll whoop this guy." Jaden said.

"No! The duellist is already chosen." The aged man said shocking everyone.

"Who is it then?" the child of Miracles asked.

The Chancellor looked over to the raven in the room.

"So it's Chazz?" Renamon asked.

"For some reason, they asked for him specifically." Banner said as he stepped up to a conference speaker, pressing a button.

"I believe this is them now." He said.

"On screen." Sheppard said.

"Yes." Banner said as he pressed the button and the large TV above them came on and showed two males that they never wanted to see again.

"It's Chazz's brothers?" Syrus asked.

"That figures." Jaden scoffed.

"Aw, they got the dye out." Dai pouted at the smirking males.

"Lousy scrubs. What're you up to?" Chazz demanded not happy to see his brothers who had disowned him.

"Oh, come on, Chazz. Don't you know? Jagger?" Slade said.

"Same thing." Jagger said.

"Complete world domination." They said.

Really, these two were insane and needed to be put in a mental institute far away to deal with their issues.

"Remember? It was our little family project." Slade said.

"Ha! Your project, maybe." Chazz said.

"Maybe, well, now it pretty much has to be." Slade said.

"That's right, 'cause you couldn't pull your weight. You couldn't conquer the world of Duel Monsters like we planned, so now…Slade is gonna have to do it for you." Jagger said.

"So I'm dueling Slade?" Chazz asked.

"You can take him easy, Chazz." Syrus said.

"Totally. I mean, Slade's just an amateur." Jaden said.

"And a stuck up, annoying, badly dressed as a clichéd villain jerk that should go jump off a cliff and get impaled on the very sharp jagged rocks at the bottom." Dai said.

Everyone was staring at her in shock and Syrus was cowering behind Flamedramon in slight fear.

"Someone has a bit of a dark side." Jagger commented.

"She's not the only one. You guys had better rethink your business strategy because this one stinks." Jaden said stepping up next to his cousin, both glaring at the older brothers.

"No it doesn't, because there are a few conditions." Slade said pulling out a black briefcase.

"First, I get to use all these rare cards. The same rare cards we gave you to use in the school duel, of course you refused to use them and you lost. And there's one more thing, Chazz. During our duel, you're only allowed to duel with monsters that are less than 500 Life Points." Slade said with a cruel smirk that made the cousins grit their teeth in anger as the fox and dragon bared their fangs snarling.

"What the-?!" Chazz asked mad.

"500?!" Syrus gasped.

"This is a joke, right? Say no, Chazz." Jaden said.

"It's too late. Kaiba already agreed to them." Slade said.

"Thanks a lot, Dad." Jaden muttered.

"Leave it to Seto to give in to his huge pride." Flamedramon sighed.

"So it's already been decided." Slade said.

"This isn't fair!" Jaden said looking over to Sheppard, who sighed and looked down, agreeing with his boss' son, but he couldn't do anything.

"Oh, it's not, but then, that's the point." Slade said as the two brothers laughed evilly making Dai groan as he turned to her dragon, who nodded.

"Flame Fist!" he called as his right fist was covered in flames and he slammed his fist into the screen, shattering it and making everyone jump back from the sparks.

"Wasn't that a bit excessive?" Banner asked.

"No." Jaden, Renamon and Flamedramon said.

"I have freaking HAD IT WITH THOSE STUPID WANNBE VILLAINS AND THEIR STUPID EVIL LAUGHTER! It's the most annoying thing in the world! You want excessive?! Just wait until I get my hands on those two creeps! I'll have them arrested for domestic abuse and then have them both beaten within an inch of their lives!" Dai ranted as she stormed around the room.

Everyone watched this nervously as Syrus hid behind the dragon, not wanting to be around the frightening looking girl.

"Oh, great. I hate it when she gets like this." Jaden sighed.

"Why?" Chazz asked disturbed.

"Because the only one who can calm her down is Ken." The Slifer King answered as the Queen kept cursing the elder Princeton brothers to the very bowels of heck and hoped the Serpent God Seth wouldn't show them any mercy.

"Is there any way we can get this Ken fellow down here…soon?" Sheppard asked as they all watched the girl as she continued storming around.

Dai looked very close to striking out in a violent way at the next person who spoke to her.

"_Will you please calm down?"_ Came the male's voice making her stop short.

It was the male in darkness.

"_This tantrum you are throwing isn't helping matters at all. Calm yourself and stay focussed on the issue at hand."_ He said.

Dai closed her eyes as she began taking in a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down as she knew that he was right.

She turned to her friends as her partner and cousin looked surprised that she was able to calm herself without her DNA partner being there.

"Sorry about that." She said with a smile and embarrassed blush.

"It's fine." Sheppard said relieved that she was better.

"Guess we should go back up." Chazz said as he turned to leave.

"Chazz, hold up, you can win this." Jaden said.

"For real." Syrus said.

"You're wrong. There's no way I can. Duel Academy is through." Chazz said leaving the room.

The group followed Chazz out of the room and soon enough the entire school was talking bad about the Raven Slifer.

They were gossiping on how this was all his fault on why they had to leave and that he had backed down because he wanted his brothers to win.

Worst of all, that they never should have let him back in.

"Well, you know what I think?" Jaden said making everyone stop talking and Chazz turned to see the Slifer royalty with their partners.

"I think you're dead wrong. I know Chazz can win this duel." Jaden said surprising the raven haired male.

"Because I dueled him myself and duellists don't come much tougher." He said.

"Yeah, I know. That's exactly the problem, Jaden." Chazz said.

"What's that mean?" Jaden asked.

"Honestly, Chazz, you're not making any sense." Bastion said as he came over with Kotemon and Alexis.

"Bastion's right. Being tough is usually a good thing, Chazz." The Obelisk Queen said.

"In my book." The Ra said.

"Look, it's-"Chazz was cut off.

"It's about Chazz being too tough." Zane said as he came up next to the raven, the Slifer trio running over to him.

"Specifically his deck. It's about Chazz not being able to duel." He said.

"Ohhhhh." Dai nodded in understanding.

"Wanna clue us in?" her cousin asked.

"What do ya mean?" Syrus asked.

"What I mean, Syrus, is that his deck isn't built with monsters that aren't less than 500 Life Points." Zane said.

"Wait! So then…" the child of Darkness trailed off.

"My cards are all too powerful. Because of that condition my bro set up, my deck is useless. All I've got left is him." Chazz said as he pulled out his Ojama Yellow card.

Everyone then exclaimed in surprise.

"What? Just him? You can't make a deck with one card." Jaden said.

"He may not need to." Came Banner's voice gaining their attention to see him sitting on the staircase.

"This is but a rumour, but given the circumstances, it may be worth investigating. Now, supposedly, my students, deep in the woods, there's a very old well. And within this well, lay a great many cards. You see, they were discarded there by duellists that found them too weak to ever use in their decks. Of course, the spirits of all those cards are quite angry at being left behind." Banner said.

"Oh, yeah? The Chazz has a feeling they'll be perking up real soon 'cause I'm gonna find that well and enlists some new monsters for my deck." Chazz said making everyone cheer.

**(Later…)**

"_Hanging out with the crew in the school yard_

_Yeah!_

_Finding trouble_

_Never working too hard"_ Jaden sang as he, Dai and their partners followed Chazz into the woods to find the well.

"You know, you don't have to follow me everywhere." He said turning back on them.

"But who's gonna look out for you if you get jumped by angry Duel Spirits?" Jaden said.

"Besides, you're our surrogate brother. We need to be there for you whenever we can." Dai said.

"Give me a break." Chazz said stomping away.

"Like Banner said, it's probably just a rumour anyway." He said, but was cut off by a spirit shooting up in front of him.

There was a group of them that started circling above them, the digimon going on guard.

"Uh, or not." Chazz said.

"Whoa, those things really don't look too friendly." Jaden said.

"So Casper was all a lie then?" Flamedramon asked making Renamon sigh.

"Please, they're harmless. Look." Chazz scoffed.

They watched as two spirits charged towards them, but instead of attacking, they just phased right through them.

"Nothing happened." The child of Darkness said.

"Of course not. Remember, these are weak spirits. Kind of like the annoying roommate I got crashing in my deck." The Raven Slifer said.

The group continued on until they reached a well that was deep in the ground.

"Oh, look! There's the well." Jaden said as they ran over to it.

"What tipped you off? The big hole in the ground?" Chazz asked as he pulled out a rope ladder from his bag he had and tossed it down so that he could climb down.

"All those who are claustrophobic, turn and leave now. This is your final warning." Dai commented as they all began to go down one by one.

Renamon and Flamedramon stayed on top to keep watch and also because the dragon was too big to go down.

"Check out these cards." Jaden gasped as the three Slifers saw them all littering nearly every inch of the ground.

"It's just like Banner said." Chazz said as the three knelt down.

"You could build a weak deck in no time with these." Jaden said as these two strange looking creatures popped up from their cards.

"_In case you knuckleheads hadn't noticed, this here's private property."_ Said the blackish purple looking one.

"_Yeah, that's telling 'em."_ Said the green one.

"_Numbskulls like you ditched us here, so we don't want cha here."_ The blackish monster said as the green one chuckled.

"These two…are a few cards short of a deck." Chazz said turning up his nose at them.

"_Hey! Who you callin' short, chowder head?" _the blackish monster asked baring his mini shark fangs.

"_Yeah."_ The green one with his tongue stick sticking out of his mouth said.

"Listen, we didn't leave ya here, but somebody did 'cause you're weak." Chazz stated.

"_It's true!"_ the black monster cried.

"_We're weak!"_ the green monster cried.

They both held each other as they sobbed.

"Give it a rest!" Chazz yelled as the three Slifers held their ears from the obnoxious sound of the crying.

"I'm sorry, OK?!" he said as the rest of the spirits floating above them also cried.

"We're all sorry!" Jaden said.

"This is why I prefer my Warriors. They don't freak out because someone insults them." Dai groaned softly.

"_Nobody wants us, do they?!"_ the blackish monster sobbed as Ojama Yellow appeared on Chazz's head.

"_What's the racket?"_ he asked making the two stop and stare at him.

"_Is that a-?"_ the blackish monster asked.

"_Yes."_ The green one nodded.

"_Black? Green? Is that you?"_ Ojama Yellow asked in surprise.

"_Our lost brother, Ojama Yellow!"_ Black and Green exclaimed happily as Yellow jumped at them.

"_My brothers!"_ Yellow cried.

"_Welcome back!"_ Black and Green said as they grabbed Yellow's hands and spun him around in a happy dance of sorts.

"Whoa, what a family reunion." Jaden said.

"And I thought our family was wild." Dai said.

"Yeah, maybe a dysfunctional one." Chazz said making the Ojama brothers stop and look up at him as he stood.

"I'm going." He said.

"Going? But why Chazz?" the cousins asked curiously.

"_Boss isn't a fan of Duel Spirits. He might, uh, decide to leave the two of ya here."_ Yellow said to his brothers.

"_Leave us?!"_ Black and Green asked.

"_Who does he think he is? Look at me when I'm talking to you!"_ Black yelled.

"_I'd do what he says. He gets violent."_ Green said.

"So much for weak." Jaden said.

"_Please take us!"_ the brothers begged.

"_And us too! Don't forget us!"_ four other cutesy monsters begged.

"Well, Chazz?" Jaden asked.

"It can't hurt." The Raven Slifer sighed feeling a pounding headache coming on.

"Fine, whoever wants to can come with me." He said making the cousins laugh and smile as all of the Duel Spirits cheered in celebration.

"But there's one condition." Chazz said holding up his pointer finger to make a mark.

"_Let me guess…lots of hugs?"_ Yellow asked floating up and kissing his Master's cheek, making him real back and swipe his hand at him.

"_Hugs two coming up Chazz!"_ Black and Green cheered as they pounced at the raven haired male who cried out in fear at the show of affection and then tried to swat them away.

"_Finally! Freedom! FREEMON!"_ all of the monsters cheered.

**(The next day…)**

Sheppard had chosen Dai to be the one to host the match between Slade and Chazz, so she was standing in the center of the stage on the side lines, looking at both brothers.

She smiled at her fellow Slifer and glared at the man who was in desperate need of a therapist along with his other brother.

"All right Duel Academy! Get ready for the matchup between our own beloved Raven Slifer, Chazz Princeton!" the child of Miracles yelled with energy and confidence making everyone cheer.

Chass was blushing a bit at the intro, but also looked annoyed.

"Now let's hear it for one of the creeps that are trying to destroy our hopes and dreams and should get over himself for the foolish and pathetic goal of world domination, Slade Princeton!" Dai said with just as much hype, but this made the students call out insults to the older male and hiss at him.

Slade sent her a very nasty glare but she just laughed at it and stuck her tongue at him, angering him even further.

"Now, are you ready to duel?" she asked the two males and the crowd.

The crowd all cheered loudly.

"If you wanna back out, tell me now." Slade smirked at his youngest brother.

"Does this answer your question?" Chazz asked as he continued setting up his deck and duel disk with a look of defiance.

"Bring it." Slade said masking the intense rage he was feeling.

"All right everyone…GET YOUR GAME ON!" Dai yelled making everyone cheer loudly.

In the end, Chazz won the duel, surprising his brothers and making everyone ecstatic that they wouldn't be leaving.

"Let's hear it for our saviour CHAZZ PRINCETON!" Dai yelled as she did a backflip to express her utter joy at the won and everyone went wild.

"Wait, you know the cheer." Chazz said.

"Chazz…it…" he said.

"Up!" Jaden and Syrus called.

"Of course!" Bastion, Alexis and Kotemon smiled.

"Chazz it up!" Chazz said and everyone began saying his cheer.

"Imbecile! How could you lose this?" Jagger demanded as he helped Slade walk away.

"Relax, Jagger. It's only one duel." Slade said looking over to his baby brother to see him eating up the praise before he was tackled into a hug by the Slifer Queen.

"One duel? Listen to them. This one duel has turned Chazz into a hero and a major headache for us." Jagger said.

That night, all throughout the Slifer dorm they could hear Chazz yelling at his Duel Spirits and the duos of Darkness and Miracles couldn't contain their amusement as they listened in on the banter of the new family.

To be continued…


	33. Bad Luck with Women

It was a peaceful, beautiful morning that was spent with the child of Miracles tangled in her covers sleeping with her dragon at her bed side.

Sadly, this peace was ruined by the startling sound of three consecutive explosions, making Dai shoot up out of her bed and Flamedramon quickly jump to his feet.

"What the-?" he was cut off by the sound of three boys yelping.

"Oh, can't a girl sleep in on mornings?" Dai groaned as she stomped out of her room and was in front of her cousin's door in only thirty seconds since they lived next to each other and she started banging her fist on the door.

"Come in." came Syrus' tired voice and the angered girl threw the door open.

"OK, who in the Horus was responsible for the wakeup call?" she demanded seeing Bastion and Kotemon were both in the room.

"You heard that?" the lizard asked.

"How can we not?" Flamedramon asked as he poked his head into the room.

"It was Bastion's fault." Jaden yawned.

"Yes, now that we're all awake, how about some good old fashioned daybreak duel exercises?" Bastion asked making everyone groan in surprise and disbelief.

"Is this a freaking joke?" Dai asked.

"No, all of us are going to practise." Bastion said.

Dai chuckled at that, but it was not a happy one, it was one that said she was going from her sweet puppy persona to deadly wolf.

Syrus and Chumley were hiding behind Jaden and Renamon as they watched the girl approach the Ra and grabbed his jacket collar.

"Let's get something straight here, smart guy. It is way too early for me. If anyone else had woken me up at this hour, they would suffer…a slow…painful end. You…get out of my face before I have BurningGreymon drop you in the volcano. OK?" she asked with a sickeningly sweet smile that made the taller male cower.

"U-Understood, ma'am." He stuttered.

"Good." She said lightly slapping his cheek three times before she let him go and stalked off to her room, her dragon on her tail.

The males and fox all waited as they heard the room door slam hard and loud.

"Note to self; never wake her up early in the morning. You got lucky my friend." Jaden said unaffected by this while Syrus and Chumley were clinging to each other behind him and Kotemon was holding onto his stunned partner, traumatized from that event.

"I think we know why the Shadow Riders wanted Dai to join them now." Syrus commented.

An hour later, Dai was walking over to where the guys were and heard Chumley say something about Thunder Nyan Nyan.

"Yeah, I have a bit of a card crush on her." Syrus said chuckling.

"Card crush? That's so lame Syrus. At least having one on that card. Check out mine." Chumley said showing off a card of an overweight woman.

"She's, um, real pretty Chum." Syrus said.

"Hey guys." Dai greeted.

"Happy to see you're in a better mood." Renamon said.

"Totally reminds me of my girlfriend Sally from back home. No wait. Adrianna." Chumley said.

"Hey, Jaden, Dai. Do you two have any card crushes hidden away in your dueling decks?" Syrus asked the cousins as they shared a smile.

"You better believe it. They bring loads of luck." Jaden said.

"I think it's obvious that I have a small card crush on the Dark Magician of Chaos." Dai said.

"You just have a thing for bad boys." Flamedramon smirked making his partner blush as Jaden laughed.

"I beg your pardon, but I thought we were training here!" Bastion yelled snapping everyone out of their conversation.

"And training gentlemen and ladies does not comprise of standing around talking about birds!" he said.

"Did he say 'birds'?" Syrus asked.

"You know what; I'm thinking that Bastion doesn't have a card crush." Chumley said.

"A crush on a card? Of course not! That's just plain irrational, illogical, ridiculous!" Bastion said.

His cheeks then went rosey pink as he seemed to be thinking about something, but shook it off.

"Look, let's just get back to our dueling exercises, all right?" he asked.

"Sure, but I do have plans to play solitaire with Thunder Nyan Nyan in about 15." Syrus smiled.

"WHAT?!" Bastion snapped making the two lower Slifers fall down on their backs in shock.

"You'll be breaking that date and soon breaking a sweat. Now gentlemen and ladies, back to our duel training." Bastion said as Kotemon sighed at his partner's antics.

"And into the dog house for me. She hates it when I cancel on her." Syrus said.

"Somehow, I think she'll understand, Syrus." Jaden smiled down at his friend.

"You think?" the shorter boy asked.

"Totally. It's not like she's a real girlfriend like Sally…uh, Adrianna." Chumley said.

The Slifers then all started the exercise of practicing drawing their cards at a quick speed.

After it was done, they all ran off to class where the freshmen trio of the Slifers fell asleep from being woken up too early.

"Hmm. There certainly are a lot of absences today. Hmph. Must be a bug going around." Banner commented with a frown as he pet Pharaoh.

Nearly half of the class was missing and the ones that were there seemed a bit groggy while Dai and Jaden used each other as pillows.

Just then, a woman dressed in an orange colored version of the Obelisk girls uniform stepped into the room holding a bag.

"May I help you?" Banner asked.

"Well, do you recognize this bag?" she asked him.

"Yes, it's one of my students. Why?" he asked as the Slifer King and Queen woke up.

**(Hours later…)**

Banner was leading Alexis, Chazz, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Dai, Bastion, V-Mon, Kotemon and Renamon into the forest that surrounds the island.

The dragon decided to stay in his Rookie form in case he needed to digivolve into one of his flying forms.

"I wonder why that pack was left all the way out here." Jaden commented as he carried the bag.

"Indeed, and Jaden, where it's owner is." Bastion said.

"I hope that no one is hurt." Banner said.

The group then started calling out for whoever may have been in the woods, but no one answered, so they continued their search.

After walking for a while longer, they stopped in a clearing and stared in amazement at the coliseum that they found.

"Where did this come from?" Jaden asked.

"And I thought weird things happened in the Digital World." V-Mon said.

"I'm going in." Bastion said as he started running over.

"Uh, Bast, wait!" Kotemon called as he ran after his human.

"Wait up!" Syrus calle.d

"Uh, running?" Chumley whined as they all chased after the Ra.

They entered the coliseum and stared at the inside when they saw that it looked exactly like one from ancient Greece.

Not only that, but there were the missing students that seemed to be working there.

"Hey, that guy's from class." Syrus pointed out.

"Yeah, so is she." Chumley said.

"Oh, my." Banner said.

"CROWLER?!" Chazz yelled in shock when they all saw the man was there as well working on who knows what.

"What're you doing?" Syrus asked the man as he seemed to be moving a stone block with a metal rod.

"I'm doing a man's work." Crowler said.

"A man's work? My, they must have been running very short on men." Banner said making the duo of Miracles hold in their laughter.

Jaden gasped as a large tiger wearing bejewelled collars around its neck and four legs pounced in front of him, snarling.

Renamon gasped as she stepped in front of her partner, her paws glowing as she prepared to attack.

"First a coliseum, now a tiger. What's next; a gladiator?" Banner asked as the tiger started chasing after them, but Renamon tackled the tiger down.

They all watched as the fox and tiger wrestled on the ground, but Renamon was then bit very hard in the shoulder making her cry out.

"RENAMON!" Jaden cried in worry.

V-Mon and Kotemon both ran over to help out.

The dragon used his V Head-Butt, hitting the tiger in the head and making it back off of the injured fox while the lizard helped led her away and over to safety.

"Rena, are you OK?" Jaden asked as he picked the fox up bridal style and looked at her injury.

"I'm fine." She grunted.

The tiger was up again and chased after them, but thankfully they all climbed up to a pillar to escape the tiger.

"Actually, I think she prefers Amazon." Crowler suddenly called to them.

"Amazon?" Banner asked as they tried to stay away from the mad animal.

Suddenly, a woman that looked of African origin walked in with the same jewelry as the tiger and was on the buff side with skin tight clothing.

"That's right and thanks to your friends, I've been able to finally finish my glorious arena." She said.

"Arena for what?" Jaden asked as he still held the injured fox in his arms.

"Dueling." The woman said as the tiger walked off over to her and was pet like it was a common house cat.

The males that were working for her all came down to meet the woman who smiled at them holding these pamphlets.

"Job well done. I had no idea that Duel Academy students could make such fine labourers. Now, as promised, here's your payment. Some rare cards. Well-deserved I might add. Until next time." She said handing them out while the Key Keepers all climbed down, Renamon leaning against the pillar as she held her chest.

"Hey, what is going on?" Jaden asked as Dai pulled out a lap top Bastion had brought and opened up a portal to Joe's place and sent the fox there to get fixed up.

"What does it look like? I'm setting the stage, Key Keeper, for your vanquishing. I'm one of the Seven Shadow Riders." The woman said.

"Uh oh." V-Mon said.

"A Shadow Rider? Aw, man." Syrus said.

"You mean a woman. Amazons are a warrior race of all females." Chumley said surprising everyone.

"Wow, you go girl." Alexis said.

"I'm more surprised that Chum actually knew that." Dai said.

"My name is Tanya and now that the battle ground has been established, it's time that we battled. Now then, which one of you big strong men will it be? After all, I would never harm a sister." The woman said smiling at Alexis and Dai.

"Hey, don't do me any favours." The Obelisk Queen said with a frown as Dai then burst into laughter.

Everyone looked at her as she held her stomach as she continued her laughing fit.

"B-Big…strong…men?" she managed to get out from her fit.

"That's the most hilarious thing I've ever heard!" she chortled as she leaned against the pillar to hold herself up.

The males all frowned at that.

"Gee, thanks a lot." Chazz said.

"That really helped my self-confidence." Syrus sighed.

"I don't see what's so funny." Chumley said.

Tanya shook her head in amusement at the maroon haired girl laughing at her male friends, seeming close to losing her breath.

"Now, which of you males will it be? Who's my man?" Tanya asked.

"Right here!" Jaden said wanting to get payback for what happened to Renamon.

Thankfully she was in good hands with Joe taking care of her, but the child of Darkness was not happy that she was still hurt in the first place.

"Yours truly." Chazz said stepping up.

"I'll take you." Bastion said stepping up.

The woman looked the three over with a thoughtful smile.

"If this is really the best you have to offer, then I suppose I'll pick…you!" Tanya said pointing at the grinning raven haired Ra.

"Well, can't duel them all." Kotemon said as the two shot down males walked back to join the others as Dai finally calmed down.

"What is your name?" Tanya asked as her tiger growled, walking around her.

"Bastion. Bastion Misawa." He said.

"All right, pal. Go and get her." Jaden called.

"And don't go easy 'cause she's a girl." Syrus called.

"Not like any that I've seen." Chumley said quietly.

"All right. Let's do this. The only question is; which deck to choose?" Bastion said as he opened his jacket to reveal the deck packs he still wore.

"Really? I have the same problem myself. I have two decks. One is of knowledge, the other is of courage." Tanya said gaining the two Crest bearing Digidestinds attention.

"Why don't you go ahead and decide which of the two I use." The woman said.

"Fine then. I'll pick…the deck of knowledge."

"Nice choice." Tanya said as she discarded one deck and placed the other in the duel disk she wore.

"Thank you, but it's not nearly as nice as the choice that I am making for myself. I select my earth deck." Bastion said as he placed the deck in his duel disk.

"Then let us begin and don't worry. This isn't a Shadow Game." The Amazon said.

"Beg your pardon?" Bastion asked confused.

"You heard me, Bastion. I don't want your soul. I want you, big boy." Tanya said gushing making the Ra nearly trip over his own two feet in shock while Dai burst into another round of laughter, with V-Mon, Beetlemon and Agunimon joining her.

"_Oh, man. You walked right into that one."_ The Warrior of Flame laughed.

"_You're just having the worst luck with women today!"_ the Warrior of Thunder called.

"It's like this. My tribe's all women, so to marry, I have to shop around." Tanya explained.

"TO MARRY?!" Bastion yelled.

"That's right, hon. Now let's do this." Tanya said with a wink.

During the duel, Bastion seemed to be distracted by the whole concept of crushes and such and with the way Tanya was teasing him, it didn't help.

He was not doing well at all and in the end, he lost the duel and his key.

Jaden and Dai quickly jumped down from the bleachers to go to their fallen friend.

"Bastion!" Jaden called.

"Kitty." Tanya called to her tiger.

Before they could even get close enough to Bastion and Kotemon, the tiger stepped in front of them, cutting them off.

The tiger then chased them out of the coliseum, not wanting to become cat food or a chew toy.

As soon as they were out, the doors were barred, locking them out.

"Oh, no, Bastion." Jaden said.

"And Kotemon, too." V-Mon said with his ears hanging low.

"Hey!" the child of Darkness called running over and grabbing onto the bars.

Tanya laughed at them as the child of Miracles ran up, looking in.

"Sorry, Bastion and I are officially on our honey moon now, so get lost." The woman's voice said.

"This isn't over! You hear me?" Jaden called.

Three keys were now gone and two friends were stuck with the Shadow Riders.

Things were not going to end well for them if they allowed this to go on.

They had to find a way to save their friends and stop the Shadow Riders or else the world as they know it was doomed.

To be continued…

**OK, congratulations to Leshyaedawnfire for being the first to figure it out. The song is in fact 'Darkness in my Heart'. It's Koichi Kimura from Frontier's song and is sung by his English voice actor Crispin Freeman. This chapter is dedicated for you and also a round of applause for second place BTRHenderson31.**


	34. Jaden the Ladies Man

"_A warning_

_To the people_

_The good and _**(The Key Keepers)**

_The evil _**(Shadow Riders)**

_This…is…war_

_To the solider _**(Zane)**

_The civilian _**(Syrus)**

_The martyr _**(Chazz)**

_The victim _**(Atticus)**

_This…is…war_

_A warning_

_To the prophet _**(Sheppard)**

_The liar _**(Crowler)**

_The honest _**(Alexis)**

_This…is…war_

_Oh!_

_To the leader _**(Dai)**

_The pariah _**(Leader of the Shadow Riders)**

_The victor _**(Bastion)**

_The messiah _**(Jaden)**

_This…is…WAR!_

_It's the moment of truth_

_The moment to lie_

_The moment to live_

_The moment to die_

_The moment to fight_

_To fight…to fight…to FIGHT!_

_To the right_

_To the left_

_We will fight_

_To the death_

_To the edge_

_Of the earth_

_It's a brave new world_

_From the last to the first_

_To the right_

_To the left_

_We will fight_

_To the death_

_Till the end_

_Of the world_

_It's a brave new world_

_It's a brave new world_

_It's a…BRAVE…NEW…WORLD!"_

Alexis, Jaden, Dai, V-Mon, Banner, Chumley, Chazz and Syrus had stayed at the coliseum all night long, camping out waiting for Renamon to return and to save Bastion and Kotemon.

All night long, they heard the Ra male's cries, making them all feel terrible for whatever pain he may be going through.

"I hate hearing Bastion suffer like that and not being able to help." Alexis said as she played with a stick in the fire.

"No joke. They've been dueling all night and from those screams, it sounds like Bastion's been losing all night too." Chazz said.

Dai was on the laptop, checking to see if Joe was finished with Renamon yet.

"How long can this go on?" Banner asked.

"We gotta do something." Jaden said standing up.

"Yeah." Syrus and Chumley said as they stood up.

A strange sound alerted them all, making them turn to see what it was.

"Hey, what is that?" the bluenette asked.

"Over there." Chumley said as everyone stood, Dai closing the laptop and stood up to see what was going on.

The gates had been opened up now and out walked Bastion with a teary eyed Kotemon who was worried for his partner and with good reason.

The young man's cheeks were flushed and his eyes were dazed.

"Bastion!" Jaden and Dai called as they ran over.

"Kotemon!" V-Mon cried as he ran over to his lizard friend.

Bastion fell to the ground as his friends made it over to him, Kotemon crying in shame and guilt.

"I'm sorry, Bast! I should've taken better care of you. I failed." He sniffled as the dragon hugged him, trying to comfort Kotemon.

"Bastion." Jaden said grabbing his friend's shoulders to keep him up.

"What happened?" Syrus asked.

The raven haired male groaned, the dazed look still on his face.

"Wait. She dumped you?" the child of Darkness asked.

"That's right. I'm crushed." Bastion said.

"Everyone gets their hearts broken once in a while. It's all a part of life." Dai said with a small smile.

"He's not crushed, he's lucky." Chazz said.

"I don't understand. She was so smitten with you." Banner said unsure of what had happened.

"I know. We were to be married." Bastion said with a dreamy smile making the child of Miracles face palm while the others exclaimed in surprise.

"But she decided I wasn't duellist enough. I wasn't good enough for her and she's left me forever. She says she wants a…champion. A duellist who can…give her a match that she will always remember." The Ra said sadly.

"Bastion." Jaden said sympathetically.

The group all went back to the academy, but Bastion hadn't changed demeanor at all.

He was acting all gloomy and Kotemon was mirroring his partner's actions because of the guilt he felt and how ashamed he was for not being able to protect Bastion like he was supposed to.

"Whoa, is he still wigging out over that girl?" Jaden asked.

Bastion was staring out the window of the school wing they were in, Alexis and Dai standing with Jaden as they watched their heartbroken friend.

"Yeah, I had no idea Bastion had fallen for her that hard." The Obelisk Queen said.

"Really." Jaden nodded.

"Is it actually real…or is it some kind of spell?" the Slifer Queen asked as she held her chin in thought.

Afterwards, the entire Key Keepers group had gone to the duelling arena to meet up with Bastion for a meeting while V-Mon and Kotemon were sent to the Digital World for the day, the dragon on a mission to cheer the lizard up.

"What do the lot of you want?" Bastion asked.

"A duel to cheer you up." The Slifer King said holding up his deck.

"I can't. It's just too soon for me." Bastion said shaking his head still looking depressed.

"Aw, come on. You've gotta move on, Bastion." Jaden said.

"I can't duel without…my Tanya." Bastion said.

"I hate saying this, but…she's probably dueling without you." Jaden said.

"No, she would never. Not my Tanya." Bastion said in denial.

"Oh, gag me." Chazz said.

"You don't understand. We had passion." Bastion said.

"Uh, excuse me, what?" Jaden asked.

"When I first dueled Tanya, there were fireworks between us. You saw how our cards danced that dangerous Duel Monsters dance together. It was beautiful, majestic. If I can't have that feeling again when I duel, well, it's over then. My life, dueling, it's all finished." Bastion said.

"But Bastion, she's a Shadow Rider. We have the world to save. We need you. And you're saying you're done?" Zane asked.

"As much as all of you require my deck, until I prove to Tanya that I am a worthy man, my dueling days are through. Now and forever." Bastion swore.

"Oh, all right, I'm gonna go to the bathroom and hurl." Chazz said.

"Just duel her again. Go and ask her for a rematch." Jaden said.

"Rematch?" Bastion asked.

"Don't take no for an answer. You're a tough guy. And I'll even be your wingman." Jaden said.

Everyone kept quiet as the Ra thought it all over.

Finally, Dai had had enough of this waiting and stepped up in front of him making the others watch her.

"Bastion, do you even understand what it means to be a Digidestind?" she asked stunning him.

"Every Digidestind has to have courage, love, friendship, knowledge, reliability, sincerity, hope, faith and kindness. Sure, there are some that have those Crests and many others, but they are the human represenitives of those Crests, the virtues that every living being has. If you're so willing to give up this easily…then there must have been a mistake. You aren't a Digidestind." Dai said.

Bastion's eyes were wide in horror as the others all looked on in confusion and worry, unsure of what to do or say.

They weren't Digidestinds themselves, so they couldn't step in or add any input to this situation.

In this moment, Dai was in charge, taking up her position of the Leader again.

"Don't just think of yourself. Kotemon's been nothing but miserable because of you. Get over your stupid insecurities and start acting like a Chosen Child. You were chosen for a reason, but don't you dare screw it up. When you get weak, so does Kotemon. Do you really want to lose him?" Dai asked.

Bastion kept quiet as he let the words sink in.

He understood what was going on here.

He was chosen as a Digidestind under her watch, making her his Leader and she was doing what she felt was necessary.

"When you figure it all out…come find me." Dai said as she pulled out her D-3 and laptop.

She shoved the laptop into Chazz's arms, then held her D-3 up to the screen.

"Digi port open!" she said.

Bright lights flashed around and soon she was pulled into the portal, colors streaming around her as her clothing changed into her regular Digital World outfit, goggles included.

She landed in the forest that was near Digitamamon's restaurant where she knew V-Mon and Kotemon were hanging out at.

"You better make the right decision, Bastion." She said as she started her walk.

Meanwhile, back with the others, they were staring in shock at the laptop in Chazz's arms.

"What the-? She-? What just happened to her?" Syrus asked.

"Don't freak out." Jaden said as he took the computer.

"Our D-3s are able to open up the portals to the Digital world and that's where she is right now. Probably checking up on V and Kotemon." He said.

"So that's how you get to the Digital World? Through a computer?" Alexis asked.

"Yep. Which reminds me, I need to check on Renamon, then we'll go duel Tanya." Jaden said.

He then took off to his room, Syrus close behind him with Chazz tagging along out of curiosity while Bastion stayed where he was, thinking long and hard on what Dai had said to him.

"Where's the fire?" Chumley asked as the three boys ran into the room.

He watched as Jaden set up the portal to go to Joe's home and then held his D-3 up.

"I'll be back soon. Portal open!" Jade said as he was swallowed in lights.

He was pulled through and soon enough was emerging from Joe's computer, seeing the dark blue haired male standing in the room with Gomamon and Renamon was sitting on the bed with her chest wrapped up.

"Oh, Jaden. Perfect timing. I was about to call you." The child of Reliability smiled at the younger male.

Jaden chuckled as he smiled back to him as he walked over to his fox.

"Hey, Rena. You feeling any better?" he asked kneeling down in front of her.

"I am fine, thank you. There's no reason for you to worry about me." Renamon said.

"Yeah, 'cause getting mauled by a tiger isn't anything to worry about. Just a walk in the park." Gomamon quipped.

"Gomamon." Joe scolded.

"What?" the seal asked innocently.

Joe sighed at the antics of his partner, then looked at the duo of Darkness.

"So what exactly happened with the tiger? I know that Dai's been keeping a secret from everyone and is having Ken keep it from us. What is it?" he asked.

Jaden looked back at him with his happy puppy grin.

Heh. Sorry, pal, but my lips are sealed." He said.

"Yeah, I figured." Joe said pushing his glasses into place when they slipped down his nose.

"Ah, I'm sure everything's fine. If it wasn't, then they would-a called us. Quit being such a worry wart." Gomamon lightly reprimanded.

Renamon and Jaden shared a look before they got up and went over to the computer.

"Thanks a lot for the help. I really appreciate it." the Slifer King said.

"Sure. I know how important she is to you. All of the digimon and Digidestinds have a powerful bond." Joe said.

If only Bastion could understand that.

The duo of Darkness were pulled into the portal and were back at the academy, in their dorm room.

"Where'd ya go?" Chumley asked as he, Syrus and Chazz looked up.

"I went to a friend's house to pick up Renamon. Come on. We need to get the others. We're going now." Jaden said.

"What about Dai and V-Mon? It wouldn't be right to go without them and Kotemon too." Syrus said.

"Don't worry. They'll show sooner or later." Jaden said.

"Let's just go. I'm not wasting my time waiting on your cousin." The Raven Slifer said as he stormed out of the room.

**(Digital World…)**

The duo of Miracles and Kotemon were eating cake with Catherine and Floramon, the duo from Paris.

"I'm so happy to meet you both again. How have you been?" Catherine asked.

"Great. I mean, we met some new friends, had a bunch of new adventures." Dai said.

"That's wonderful to hear." Floramon said.

"By the way, what are ya two doin' here?" V-Mon asked.

"We were just taking a break. I've been so busy with school lately and I just needed a break. The stress has really been getting to me." The French woman said.

"And what better place to relax than the Digital World where it's swarming with thousands different types of monsters that can be friendly or deadly?" Dai asked.

Catherine gave a small giggle, her blonde beachy waves moving from the motion.

"Tell me, Daisuke, did you find a boyfriend yet at your new school?" she asked.

"Why is everyone concerned with my love life nowadays?" the maroon haired girl asked resting her cheek in her palm.

"Well, you've never given any interest to any boys before. Any guy who captures you eye must be a dreamboat." Catherine said.

"Kotemon, you haven't spoken much. Why don't you tell us more about yourself? I'd love to learn more about you and your partner." Floramon said smiling to the lizard as she took a sip of her tea.

"Oh, sorry." Kotemon sighed.

The two girls gave him a look.

The poor lizard was still upset about watching Bastion go through all of that pain, unable to do anything to help him out at all.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault." V-Mon said.

"Maybe if I was able to digivovle I would have been able to save him." Kotemon said.

"Digivolving is a two way streak." Floramon said.

"That's right. The digimon and Digidestind have to be working in sync to be able to make the digivolution work. Bastion needs to pull his weight, or else you'll never be able to reach your Champion form." Dai explained.

"She's is. It isn't your fault. It's obvious how much you love your partner, so you have nothing to worry about." Catherine said.

Beeping then filled the air, making Dai pull out her D-terminal, so she checked it to see that she had been sent a message from Jaden.

"_I'm dueling Tanya now. Hurry back as soon as you can._

_-Jaden."_

Her eyes narrowed at that.

"What's wrong, Daisuke?" Catherine asked.

"We need to get going now." Dai said standing up as she pulled a few digi dollars out of her wallet.

"Wait, Daisuke." The blonde girl said standing up.

"Can we come with you? We'd like to meet your new friends." She said smiling.

"Oh, it would be lovely to meet them." Floramon said clapping her hands together.

"You only wanna come to see Jaden again." V-Mon teased making Catherine's cheek turn a pretty shade of pink.

Kotemon chuckled quietly at that while the others joined him.

"All right, then let's go." Dai said leaving the digi dollars on the table.

"Keep the change, Digitamamon!" she called as the group ran out.

"Come again!" the server called as he watched them go out the door.

Dai, Catherine, Floramon, V-Mon and Kotemon found a portal and went through it quickly, then rushed off to the forest where the coliseum was.

They made it in time to see the end of the duel.

Apparently, it was a duel where Tanya and Jaden's souls clashed.

It was surprising since Jaden was against hitting women unless he absolutely had to.

He was very close to losing this duel and being stuck as Tanya's husband, but Jaden made a comeback and thankfully Bastion seemed to have returned to normal.

"I guess that's game. Let me know if you ever want a rematch." Jaden said.

"No rematch. I joined the Shadow Riders to find a duellist who would be worthy to be my husband, but I discovered I am not worthy to be with someone strong as you." Tanya said as her Life Points reached zero.

"Tanya?" Jaden asked worried about the look on her face.

The cage they were in faded away as Tanya was covered in violet light and slowly transformed into a white tiger before their eyes.

"A tiger?" Syrus asked.

"Tanya? Is that you?" Bastion asked.

"Fare well, Bastion." The tiger said as she turned and left, leaving behind her glove that had the Eye of Horus on it.

The Shadow Riders have been doing that when they lose.

"Well then, I guess that this is it." Bastion said.

"Boy, Bastion. You sure know how to pick 'em." Chazz said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, buddy. There's plenty of fish in the sea." Jaden smiled.

"Yes, but not too many tigers. Thank goodness." Bastion sighed.

"Bast!" Kotemon called.

The group all gasped as they turned to look upwards to see that the duo of Miracles had returned and was there with a blonde haired girl in a red sundress and another plant/lizard like digimon.

Kotemon giggled as he jumped into his partner's arms, both smiling at each other.

"Kotemon, I'm so sorry if I hurt you in any way." Bastion said.

"I'm just glad you're OK, now." The lizard said.

"Catherine?" Jaden asked.

"And Floramon." Renamon said.

"Nice to see you're feeling better." V-Mon said.

"Jaden!" Catherine cried as she ran down the steps, Dai and the digimon close behind.

The child of Darkness gasped in surprise as the French woman flung herself into his arms.

Alexis was frowning at this while Chumley and Syrus were blushing.

"Who is that girl?" Crowler asked.

"That would be Catherine, a Digidestind from France. Her family's pretty rich and does trades in with food companies all around the world since they're very into the restaurant business." Dai said.

"So you met her because of Jaden's dad?" Chazz asked making Crowler look at them puzzled.

"Nope. We first meet Catherine when she was being held captive by these bomb like digimon. Taichi-sempai and TK saved her." Dai said.

"But they did meet at a few benefits over the years." Floramon added in.

"Jaden, you must introduce me to you friends here." Catherine said as she held onto the brunette's arm.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." He said nervously.

"Aw, man. Jaden gets all of the girls." Syrus sighed.

"No kidding." Chumley said.

"Oh, please." Chazz said turning up his nose.

"Cat, meet Chazz, Syrus, Bastion, Alexis, Chumley, Banner, Crowler and Zane." Dai said pointing out each person.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Catherine smiled at them as Jaden discreetly tried to slip his arm out of her hold.

"Well, please come with us. We'll show you around you the academy, Miss Catherine." Banner said.

The group all walked off back to the academy, Alexis still glaring at Catherine as she seemed so content with holding onto Jaden's arm.

"Looks like Jaden's a real ladies man." Zane said as she walked beside Dai.

"Not really. He's just a cutie with a sweet personality." Dai said.

"So he's a male version of you." Bastion said.

"That is not true." Dai said.

"Yeah, she's far too violent." Chazz said making the girl smirk as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a choke hold that looked more like a hug.

"And loving it." she giggled as the Raven Slifer tried pushing her off of him, but wasn't able to do it.

Everyone laughed at the two as they struggled as they walked back to the academy.

To be continued…


	35. Problems Down by the Sea

"AAAHHHH! YOU DID WHAT?!" came the horrified cries of Syrus.

"So then where am I going to sleep?!" he cried with waterfall tears as he stared at Jaden and Dai as they ate their lunch across from them.

The other Slifers in the room were staring at them in confusion.

"I'm sorry. I guess in all of the excitement, I didn't think about that." Jaden said.

"EXCITEMENT?! You traded my bed for a card!" Syrus yelled in his anger, then slammed his head down on the table to sulk.

"But I got it for you. Isn't it your birthday next week?" Jaden asked.

"That was last Tuesday and I'm surprised I made it with everything you put me through this year! I might need a new roommate." Syrus yelled.

"Don't say that. I'm really sorry, Syrus. I promise I'll be the best roommate from now on." Jaden said sincerely as she clasped his hands in apology.

"What's this? Trouble in paradise?" Chazz asked from his table in the back.

"Hey! It's private." Syrus said glaring at him.

The argument hardly seemed private if they were being watched by the group of students that were in the room who were nervously watching the Slifer King get yelled by his loyal fan boy while the Slifer Queen calmly ate her lunch without a care.

"Come on, it's just Chazz. We share everything, you know, like dessert." Jaden said.

"Yeah right, Slifer Slacker. Keep dreaming." Chazz said lifting his tray away.

"You're a Slifer too, Chazzy boy. You can't really use that insult anymore." Dai stated.

"Oh, whatever." The Raven Slifer scoffed.

"OK, then can I have your corn dogs too? And your mashed potatoes?" Jaden asked.

"How about asking for a bed while you're at it." Syrus said.

"Guys." Chumley said opening the sliding doors to the room.

"Anyone order a sub, 'cause there's one parked outside." He said.

"Say what?" Jaden asked.

The Slifer five got up and went out to check what the heavy set male meant.

They arrived at the docks to see that there was a large submarine down there and a small crowd had gathered to check it out.

Bastion, Kotemon, Alexis, Renamon and Flamedramon were also in the crowd.

"A vast, ye land lovers. I be Admiral." The male on the sub said into a microphone, the feedback making everyone cover their ears.

"Who is he? Like a pirate or something?" Jaden asked.

"You scaly wags never laid your ears on the tales of the Admiral, the scourge of the seven seas?" the man asked offended.

"Uh, yeah. I'm thinking he's a pirate." Alexis said.

"I set sail to challenge one of ye to a duel." The man said as the feedback rang out making the students groan as they covered their ears again.

"Oh, will someone please take the Ra f-ing mic away from him?" Dai asked clearly annoyed.

"The bill track known as Jaden Yuki!" the pirate said.

"Is he-?" Bastion and Chazz asked.

"A Shadow Rider." Jaden said.

"Show yourself, Jaden? Where ye be?" the pirate asked as the feedback went off again.

"Ye be here and aren't you just a little old to be playing dressup?" the child of Darkness asked.

"WHAT?! I'll shill haul your poop deck! At arms, you scurvy dogs! At dawn we be dueling. Get yarr game on!" the pirate yelled.

"Did anybody even understand half of what he said?" Flamedramon asked sweat dropping.

"Nope." Kotemon said.

"What a pitiful fool." Renamon scoffed.

"Now?" Jaden asked.

"No, next week." Bastion quipped in obvious sarcasm.

"This should be good." Chazz said.

"Let's go ye shriveled bigots. Ye best come aboard. If not, I be tying ye mates for Davey Jones." The pirate said.

Jaden's eyes flashed gold at the mention of his friends lives on the line and stepped forward, ready to go for the duel and Renamon walked after him.

"Jaden, hold up. If this is a Shadow Game, no way we're letting you go all alone. I'm coming with." Alexis said.

"I don't know. Syrus has a point. In all my duels lately, my friends and family always end up in danger." The Slifer King said as he paused.

"Jaden, we're in this together." The Obelisk Queen smiled.

"Right, I'm with you too." Bastion said.

"Ha. Just wish I had a parrot or an eye patch." Chazz smirked.

"I never back down when danger comes around." Dai said.

"That settles it." Alexis said.

"Well…" Jaden trailed off.

The feedback came on again, pissing off nearly all of the students who were at the docks.

"Arg! You scaly wags, the likes of ye. You come aboard." The pirate said.

"So, Syrus? Are you going to come?" Jaden asked.

Everyone looked back at the bluenette who had been quiet as he stood back with Chumley.

"How 'bout it, Sy?" the heavyset male asked.

Syrus kept silent as he looked away, conflict showing on his face.

Jaden felt hurt by this, but he understood fully, so he turned his back on them to walk off to the submarine.

"Daisuke." He said.

Dai looked at him, knowing he was being very serious if he was using her full name.

"Stay here with Syrus and Chumley, OK?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sure." She said nodding.

The duo of Darkness then got into a speed boat that was at the docks with Alexis, Chazz, Kotemon and Bastion getting in with him.

Dai and Flamedramon watched as a crane lifted up the boat and placed them inside of the submarine.

Once the group were inside, the submarine lowered down into the sea.

"Flamedramon." Dai said.

"Got it." he said de-digivolving.

"What are you doing?" Chumley asked as the students around them murmured in wonder.

"Switching things up. I want V-Mon to go down and watch the duel for us. I'd have Ranamon do it, but she and the other Warriors have been acting weird lately." Dai explained.

She pulled out her D-terminal and started checking the list of digi eggs until she chose the egg of Reliability.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!" she called.

"V-Mon armour digivolve too…"

Water swished around V-Mon as the images of Gomamon, Ikkakumon and Zudamon flashed over him

"Dephmon: the Diver of Reliability!"

The mermen/dragon creature dived into the water and went down to watch the duel to see what was going on and to help out if any mutiny was involved.

A few minutes later, Dephmon and the submarine came back up.

"What happened?" Dai asked.

"Apparently the guy had the same deck as Michael and he isn't even a Shadow Rider." Dephmon said.

"So he's just some weirdo that wanted a duel?" Dai asked.

"Yep." Her partner nodded.

"Plus, he wants Jaden to join his underwater school and leave Duel Academy." Mermaimon said as she popped up beside him.

Jaden used the digi egg of Reliability as well to make Renamon digivolve into the mermaid to move around the water easier.

The blonde haired mermaid then dived back down into the water, her black tail splashing as it slapped on the surface.

"Dephmon, you go back down to in case Mermaimon needs help for any reason." The child of Miracles said.

"Whatever ya say, Dai-chan." He said diving back down into the water.

Dai bit her thumb nail.

She knew that Jaden would never leave the academy no matter what, not even for all of the money in the world, but he was still going to have a hard time if he was going against a Legendary Ocean deck.

Dai herself knew it well since she dueled it earlier on in the year with Michael.

"You don't think he'll stay…do you?" Chumley asked.

"Syrus, we need to talk." Dai said turning to the bluenette.

He looked at her in confusion.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Why are you making such a big deal out of things lately? You know, it isn't Jaden's fault on what's been happening. If you wanted to escape the dangers, then you could have." The child of Miracles said turning to face him fully.

"Don't blame him for the things that happened. You chose to stay by his side because you're friends, you're almost family. Besides, he was going to replace your bed with a new, more comfortable bed." She said as her eyes narrowed.

"How about you learn to calm yourself and not turn on people just because you don't understand the things they do." She advised turning away from him.

Chumley coughed into his hand nervously as he felt uncomfortable with the tension that invaded the air.

Syrus was looking down feeling shame from his actions and the things he said.

He didn't mean to be so mean, but he was just so frustrated.

The sound of a motor boat made them all look up to see where it was coming from.

Alexis and the boys were brought back on the boat, but Jaden wasn't with them.

"Where's Jaden?" Chumley asked.

"We were told that he decided to stay." Alexis said.

Dephmon surfaced and jumped up onto the dock, returned to V-Mon.

"Mermaimon's following after the sub. I think that no good pirate tricked Jaden." He said.

Syrus sulked at this, then he ran off.

The other students all ran off to go back to their dorms, but the others stayed to go after Syrus to find him sulking at the edge of the stone pier.

"I hope he'll return soon." Alexis said.

**(A week later…)**

Dai was sitting on the cliff near the Slifer dorm, looking out to the water.

She hadn't called Seto to tell him that his son had gone missing yet in case Jaden returned.

She had complete faith in her cousin.

Besides, if Seto heard his son was kidnapped by a pirate he would rail down heck all over the place to locate his son.

"_Aw, don't worry, sugar."_ Ranamon said as she sat down behind her Master and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"_Jay's a tough cookie. He'll make it back along with Renamon."_ She said with a comforting smile.

"I know, but it doesn't stop me from worrying." Dai sighed.

"_Oh, I know."_ The Warrior of Water sighed as she hugged the girl.

Dai got up and went back into her room and laid down on her bed, her eyes closing as a dark mist floated over her body.

V-Mon noticed this and was up on his feet in seconds.

"Hey, what's going on here?" he asked.

_And here I was in the dark realm again, looking for the boy, only to see him running away from Lowemon and Lobomon who were attacking him._

"_STOP!" I yelled._

_I ran over to them just as the boy tripped and fell to his knees._

_He turned around to look up at the twins._

"Just get it over with. I don't care anymore."_ He said._

"It's time to end you once and for all."_ Lobomon said as he positioned his laser at him._

"_NO!" I yelled._

_I threw myself on top of the boy, making the Warriors of Light and Darkness look at me in shock while the boy stiffened._

_Turning my head, I glared at the brothers._

"_What are you guys doing? How can you just chase after this guy and kill him?" I demanded holding an arm out protectively._

"_You don't understand." Lowemon said shaking his head._

"_Then tell me. You guys have been keeping this big secret from me and I want to know what it is. Do you know how that makes me feel that you guys have been keeping things for me." I said._

_They kept quiet at that, looking away._

_The boy stood up making me look at him as he stepped back from me._

"Here is what they have been keeping from you."_ He said._

_He was covered in black mist tinted with purple and slowly transformed into a demonic looking creature with long blonde hair and red eyes in his armour._

_My eyes were wide at that, his words finally making sense to me._

"_So…you're a digimon?" I asked._

"Yes. My name is Duskmon and I am the tainted Warrior of Darkness."_ He said._

"_Tainted Warrior of Darkness? Then…that would make Lowemon and Lobomon…" I trailed off looking at said Warriors._

"_Your brothers." I said._

Lowemon sighed sadly as he looked at me.

"Forgive us. We didn't want you to know about Duskmon because we thought we'd never see him again after the battle with Lucemon."_ He said._

"We also didn't think that he would show up now. We haven't heard word of him for years, so we didn't know if he would ever come back."_ Lobomon said._

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you will never be rid of me. The Shadow Games have awakened me and allowed Daisuke to come visit me. I never intended for this happen. If you're going to destroy me, then do it."_ Duskmon said._

"_What're ya, nuts?" I asked standing in front of him._

_He looked at me in surprise as he saw the way my eyes narrowed at him in a scolding way._

_What was he thinking just throwing his life away just because he and his brothers have issues?_

"_Now listen up. I don't know what happened between you three, but no one is killing anyone. If it if true that Duskmon is a Warrior, that means he is one of you and the bonding process needs to take place." I said._

"What?!"_ the three asked._

"_You heard me." I smiled._

_Duskmon seemed to be at a loss for words, his eyes searching mine for any traces of a lie or whatever, but he must have seen that I was being honest._

_Behind him appeared a large bird like creature that gave out a screech as it flapped its wings making the wind blow around us. _

"Daisuke, think about this."_ Lobomon said as the rest of the Warriors appeared along with all of their Beast Spirits._

"_I already did. I hate it when I'm put in the middle of things, so I'm fixing it." I said in a no nonsense tone._

"For our team to be fully complete we need the power of the tainted Darkness or we will fall."_ Mercurymon said._

_I smiled at him before I turned back to the tainted Spirits of Darkness._

"As you know, I am Duskmon, the Human Spirit of the tainted Warrior of Darkness."

"And I am Velgemon, the Beast Spirit of the tainted Warrior of Darkness."_ The bird creature said._

"_Nice to meet cha both." I said._

_They both sighed as they passed through me and that pain I had felt five years ago filled me with an intense pain, making me shriek like a banshee as this cold feeling erupted inside of me so fast that it felt like it was burning._

_Tears fell from my eyes from the pain and I started choking, feeling like my lungs were being filled up._

_My body turned to led and I fell down to the ground, energy drowned from my body._

Chocolate eyes fluttered open, only to be met by another pair of chocolate eyes that were filled with concern.

"J-Ju-chan?" the maroon haired girl asked.

"I'm here, Dai-kun." He said pulling his cousin into his arms.

Dai coughed as her throat felt sore from the screaming she had done, but was happy that Jaden had returned to the academy, but he was soaking wet…or was that her?

Her bangs were drenched, sticking to her forehead.

"Dai, are you OK? We heard you screaming." Syrus said looking very worried as he was also drenched.

"Y-Yeah. Something just happened. I'll tell you later." Dai said smiling weakly as she leaned into her cousin's chest.

"Welcome home, Ju-chan." She said.

He smiled softly down at her as she fell back asleep.

To be continued…


	36. Sibling Rivalries Suck

Dai was in the infirmary still feeling weak from the final process of having all of her Warriors in her deck.

Groggily, she looked around the room seeing that she and the unconscious Atticus were the only ones in the room at the moment.

"What happened?" she croaked out.

Duskmon appeared at her side along with Agunimon.

"_Hey, nice to see you're awake. Jaden brought you here after you wouldn't wake up. That bonding must've taken a lot outta ya."_ Agunimon said smiling down at her as he brushed the girl's bangs out of her face.

"_I'm sorry. I never should have bonded with you. I told you that you weren't the type to be in the dark, but you didn't listen."_ Duskmon said sadly.

"It's fine. Anything to get you guys to get along. Why do you all hate each other so much?" Dai asked softly.

"_It's a long story."_ Duskmon sighed.

"_Not really."_ Ranamon said as all of the other Warriors appeared.

Just as Dai was about to ask what they meant by that, Fontain walked into the room to go check on Atticus who was in the bed across the room from the maroon haired girl.

The woman looked up and smiled when she saw that Dai was awake, unable to see the Spirits of the monsters.

"Finally decided to wake up, huh? How are you feeling, dear?" she asked walking over to the girl.

"I've been worse." Dai said so as to not make her new Warrior feel bad.

She could tell that he was feeling very sensitive and insecure about everything and she didn't want to make him feel even worst by saying she felt like she was dragged through heck and back.

"Really? Strong one." Fontain said as she placed her hand on Dai's forehead.

"Always have been-"Dai cut herself off when she started coughing, sounding very much like dry heaving soon enough.

Fontain frowned at this as she went to get a glass of water and came back over when the girl was calmed down.

"You're burning up. Here, take a drink." The nurse said.

Dai nodded with teary eyes as she took the glass from her and started drinking down the cool, refreshing liquid.

Fontain smiled as she went to go get the thermometer and some aspirin to give to the feverish girl.

"Take these and then place this under your tongue." She instructed.

The maroon haired girl did as she was told, taking the two pills and then put the thermometer under her tongue.

The nurse smiled as she went back to check on Atticus, Dai watching her the entire time.

She was wondering when the older male would wake up from his sleep so that she and the others could properly meet him.

Alexis had been searching for him for so long and now she has him back, Atticus better wake up soon.

The door to the infirmary opened up making Dai turn to see that Jaden, Renamon, V-Mon, Bastion, Kotemon, Alexis, Zane, Crowler, Banner and Chazz had come to visit.

"Hey, Miss Fontain. Is Dai up yet?" the child of Darkness asked.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" the woman said.

The group turned and looked over to the bed and those who were able to see the Warriors were shocked to see a brand new, more evil looking one standing there.

"Dai, you're awake." Alexis said walking over to the girl's side.

"How long have I been out?" the girl asked, but it was messed up with having the thermometer in her mouth.

"A few days now." Bastion said as V-Mon rushed over, ramming into his partner's chest.

The duo of Miracles giggled as they hugged each other, but the girl soon started coughing making everyone gather around her.

"Are you OK?" Jaden asked but gasped as he felt a wave of darkness that was thick in the air.

It felt different from what he was used to, and had the similar taint as the Shadow Games, only more powerful.

His eyes flashed gold for a brief second as he sent a force prodding inside his mind, like some old memories were trying to reach the surface, but they were forced back just as soon as they came.

He looked over to the new digimon, wondering who he was.

Grumblemon, Ranamon, Arbormon and Mercurymon were standing around him, looking as though they were there for support as the demonic creature seemed to be nervous.

Renamon and Kotemon were looking at him in shock with wide eyes, clearly knowing who he was.

"I'm good." Dai said as Fontain pulled the thermometer out of her mouth and checked it.

"Not really, young lady. You have a 102 fever. You're staying right here in this bed until it goes down." The woman said sternly.

The girl groaned as she leaned back down in her bed, then her eyes widened when something dawned on her.

"Where's my deck?" she asked sounding desperate.

"Calm down, now. Jaden has been keeping it." Banner said as the child of Darkness pulled the deck out of his pocket and handed it over to the girl.

His cousin took it and started shuffling through the cards, looking for something.

She found the card that Ken had asked her to look after until he made it into the academy and also a few new cards that were added due to the Tainted Spirits of Darkness.

"Hey, none of us stole anything from your deck if that's what you're worried about." Chazz said.

"No, that isn't it. I just thought I'd introduce you guys to the new member of my deck, that's all." Dai said.

V-Mon looked at the demonic creature as he jumped up and pointed at him.

"Hey! I know him. He's Duskmon. I was wondering what happened to him. He disappeared after the first battle with Lucemon, but he never returned after he helped the other Warriors fight." He said.

"Is that true?" Bastion asked looking at Duskmon who didn't pay him any mind.

"Anyway, Duskmon is the final Warrior and we went through the bonding process. I felt the usual pain from it and I guess…it just made me really sick-Do not brood!" Dai said when she saw the look Duskmon had.

Kazemon and Ranamon giggled at the fact that their old friend was being scolded while Lowemon and Lobomon ignored him.

"Oh, please don't tell me you just got yourself dragged into another family drama." Jaden sighed.

"Yep." Dai said turning over on her stomach.

"Can you check and see if I got a new mark?" she asked.

"I'll check." The Obelisk Queen said as she reached down and pulled the back of the shirt up, some of the boys blushing at this.

Everyone watched and saw all of the original 10 marks in different colors.

Finally, at the very bottom of the end of the rows was a brand new mark that was in black.

It was an eight pointed star that was inside of a thin lined circle.

"This is the new mark?" Banner asked fixing his glasses.

"New mark? Why does she have these things anyway?" Crowler asked confused.

"She has bonds with her monsters. The Ten, er, Eleven Legendary Warriors now, go through a bonding process where they become linked to each other. It's also pretty painful last time I checked." Jaden said.

"That's ridiculous." Crowler said waving a dismissing hand at that.

Everyone rolled their eyes, ignoring the man before Zane then decided to join in.

"Dai, where's your Spirit Key?" he asked.

Dai blinked as she reached into her shirt and pulled out her necklace and Spirit Key.

"But how does she still have hers when ours were stolen?" Chazz asked.

"Stolen?!" Dai asked shocked.

"_Actually…"_ Duskmon said gaining the attention of the three Digidestinds and Chazz.

"_Last night…I sensed something going on, so I arose and created a barrier to protect Daisuke and that male over there so no one would bother them."_ He said.

"That explains it." Bastion said.

"Whoa, hold up. Get back to the stolen part. YOU FREAKING LET THOSE OVERLY CLICHED SHADOW FREAKS STEAL YOUR SPIRIT KEYS?!" Dai yelled before she went into another round of a coughing fit, sounding very much like she was going to hack up a lung or some blood even.

Agunimon gently rubbed her back to get her to calm down and help her breathing.

"We're gonna get them back. Just stay here and rest. You need to get better." Jaden said gently pushing the girl down and covered her with the blanket.

"You guys better kick their butts." She said.

Jaden smiled down at his cousin and nodded at her as Renamon stood beside him, then led everyone outside.

V-Mon sat down on the bed watching the Warriors, wondering why the three brothers weren't speaking to each other.

"Why do ya guys hate each other?" V-Mon asked.

Lowemon, Lobomon and Duskmon looked at him in surprise that he even had the guts to ask that question while Dai watched them in interest.

"_It happened when Takuya and the others were brought to the Digital World to save it from the evil that was rising to destroy it."_ Agunimon said.

"_Takuya was my partner."_ He said.

"_Zoe was mine."_ Kazemon said.

"_Koji was my partner."_ Lobomon said.

"_JP was mine." _Beetlemon said.

"_Tommy was my partner."_ Kumamon said.

"_And Koichi was my partner, but…before that…he was Duskmon's partner."_ Lowemon said.

"No freaking way." The duo of Miracles said both sitting up straight.

"_Cherubimon was turned evil by Lucemon and he used Duskmon's power to turn him and Koichi evil from it all, then used the power to turn me, Grumblemon, Mercurymon and Arbormon here evil. Things have been weird between us after that since Duskmon was just gone…he vanished after Beowolfmon saved Koichi from the Tainted Darkness."_ Ranamon explained.

"So the Ying Yang twins hate their big brother just because of something he had no control over? That's…freaking…stupid." Dai deadpanned.

"Yeah, it really is." The blue dragon said.

Lobomon and Lowemon shared looks, then looked at their older brother, who was just staring out the window to watch the group of students run off to go find the thieves.

"_You should be resting. If you want to get better so that you can help your friends save the world."_ Duskmon said.

"Yeah, yeah." The girl said as she settled down in her bed.

Her dragon pulled the blankets up over her, then cuddled up into bed with Dai to sleep.

The Warriors watched over them until Grumblemon picked up the deck and placed them in a black silk bag and then placed it under their Master's pillow.

After that, the Warriors all returned to their cards to rest until Dai was awake again and was feeling better.

Hours later of the two sleeping, Dai woke up to see that it was night time and her stomach was growling.

She hadn't eaten for nearly three days now, so it was to be expected that she was hungry.

Looking down at V-Mon, she smiled down lovingly at him as he snored and hugged the pillow to himself.

Dai lifted the covers off of her and swung her legs onto the floor and stood up, feeling much better than she had been before.

She tucked her dragon in and picked up her silk bad that had her deck inside of it and looked around the room to see her jacket was on the chair beside her bed.

The girl picked it up and put it on over her white spaghetti strapped shirt and black short shorts, then placed her deck in her jacket pocket before she decided to go look for the cafeteria to get something to eat.

Before she got too far, Duskmon appeared in front of her.

"_Where do you think you're going?"_ he asked with crossed arms.

"I'm hungry." Dai said.

He gave her look before he scooped the girl up into his arms and then walked off to the bed she was in and placed her back down.

"_If you needed anything, all you had to do was ask and one of us would get it for you."_ He said.

Pouting at the Tainted Warrior, she then stuck her tongue out at him before Grumblemon appeared with some vegetable soup in a bowel.

He placed it down on the bedside table and Dai smiled at the Warrior of Earth.

"Thanks, Grumble." She said.

The soup was still hot as she ate it, her throat feeling much better from the soothing liquid.

The two Warriors left as they allowed her to eat her food in peace and she also thought about how to get the three brothers to work together in peace again.

Honestly, why does she also wind up getting herself stuck in some stupid sibling rivalry thing?

She just hoped that she would be able to get them to forgive each other soon.

To be continued…


	37. The Legendary Fraud

The next day Dai was feeling much better and the Key Keepers found their keys and their lives were continuing on as usual.

"You all know Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba as Dueling Legends, far in the way the very best of their generation." Banner said as he pointed out pictures of the two men that their children had provided instead of the cartoon sketches he was going to use.

"And best looking, too." A girl said.

"They're total dream boats." Another girl said.

"I like Mai Valentine." A boy said.

"But you do realize class, that there were other great duellists well before all of them." Banner said.

"How is that, Prof? I mean, Duel Monsters hasn't been around all that long." Jaden said.

"Guess you were asleep during that class, Jaden. They used to play back in ancient Egypt." Syrus said.

"Yeah, in Shadow Games. Remember, they used the Millennium Items for it." Dai said.

"That's right and one of the best way back in those days was a powerful Pharaoh named-"Banner was cut off.

"Atem?" the cousins asked.

"No, Abidos the 3rd. Abidos was undefeated." The man said showing them a rough sketch of the man who wore a mask that had the Eye of Horus on it.

"Undefeated? That's so sweet. He must have been something else. Of course, it's a good thing he's not around today because that undefeated record would go adios." Jaden said.

"Sure it would, Slacker. And then you'd probably take down Yugi and Kaiba too." Chazz said smirking.

If Jaden did manage to beat his Uncle Yugi and father Seto in a duel, he would make both males insanely proud of him as he became the next King of Games.

"You think? Well, thanks. I had no idea you believed in me so much, Chazz." The child of Darkness smiled making the Raven Slifer grit his teeth.

"It's sarcasm, got that?" he asked with his hands raised, twitching to grab on to something.

"Yeah, sure. But if you wanna change you name, Chazz, you can do a lot better than Sarcasm." Jaden said crossing his arms behind his head.

Dai laughed at that, but it sounded a little weak since she still had a clogged throat from her fever.

"You know what I mean!" Chazz said grabbing Jaden's head making him laugh as the two struggled.

"Hey, come on guys. You're gonna check us in trouble." Syrus said.

"Chill out, really." Dai said as she leaned her head on the table to watch them.

The two boys separated soon after.

"Wanna see trouble?" Chazz asked pulling at Jaden's ears.

"Fine. How about this?" he said as the brunette cried out.

"Guys, he's gonna hear us." Syrus chuckled.

"And Rena's gonna kill ya." The child of Miracles said.

"Well, I certainly did hear you." Banner said.

"You can continue in detention." He said.

"Aw, man. 5th time this week." The bluenette groaned sadly.

**(That night…)**

"I spend more time in detention than I do in class. My mom's not gonna be happy." Syrus said.

He, Dai, Jaden, Chazz, Renamon and Flamedramon were walking together outside in the cool, refreshing night.

"Just blame Sarcasm." Jaden said.

"OK, the joke's old." Chazz yelled trying to strangle Jaden, but Renamon caught him and held him up by his collar.

"What do you think you're doing, Mr. Princeton?" she asked.

"Put me down you fur ball!" he yelled as the others laughed at his misfortune.

"At least things can't get worse." Syrus said.

Dai and Flamedramon then sent him a glare as the sound of a girl screaming filled the air.

"What was that?" Jaden asked.

The group all went to the edge of the cliff that over looked the light house to see what was wrong.

They saw mummies bursting out of the ground, cornering the Kaiser and Obelisk Queen.

"Mummies? Really? Been there, done that." Dai said.

"Alexis!" Jaden called.

"Zane!" Chazz yelled.

"Mummies?" Syrus asked.

"Flamedramon." Dai said.

"Renamon." Jaden said.

The two digimon nodded as they grabbed their partners and jumped down to the lighthouse with them in their arms.

They landed in front of Zane and Alexis, cutting off the three mummies as Chazz and Syrus found their own way down.

"Give us the Spirit Key." One of the mummies said.

There was yelling and the group looked up to see more had appeared in front of Syrus and Chazz.

"Renamon, digivolve now!" Jaden called holding out his D-3.

"Renamon digivolve too…KYUUBIMON!"

Jaden mounted his fox and went off to help out the other two Slifers while Dai stayed behind.

"Flamedramon, barbeque these guys." She said.

The dragon jumped into the air and was covered in flames as he then charged the mummies, knocking them back as they all slowly burned.

Kyuubimon could be seen using her Dragon Wheel, the dragon shaped blue flames burning the mummies up there as well.

"Thanks for the help." Alexis said.

"What's that?" Zane asked looking up at the sky.

Gold light shined down making everyone look up to see some sort of ship descending from the sky with a barrier over the top.

"Duellists, I have come for you." A flamboyant male voice said.

The lights then became blinding, making everyone cover their eyes as they soon blacked out.

Dai and Jaden both woke up at the same time, finding themselves in the arms of Flamedramon and curled up in the tails of Kyuubimon.

"Welcome back, you two." Zane said.

The cousins looked over to see that he, Syrus, Chazz and Banner was there with his cat.

"What the-? Professor?" Jaden asked.

"Those mummies found me and brought me here. That Spirit Key that I had must have led them to me." Banner said.

"Yes, that must be how I found all of us." Zane said.

The sound of a gong being hit made them all look over to where it had come from to see what was happening.

Looking over, they saw a man dressed like a Pharaoh was sitting in a throne with a mask on and his soldiers standing around him.

"Hello there." He greeted the students and teacher, who was the only one that freaked out.

"What's wrong with him?" Syrus asked seeing the man on the floor.

"I don't know. Looks like he's seen a ghost." Chazz said.

"This is why children are chosen to save the world." Flamedramon said.

"What's this?" the Pharaoh asked standing up as Jaden and Kyuubimon both got up on the stage.

"Jaden!" Everyone cried.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" the child of Darkness asked.

"That's not how one should address an Egyptian Pharaoh." The man said as she walked forward.

"Egyptian Pharaoh?" Jaden asked.

"He looks just like the picture Banner showed us in class today." Chazz said.

"Abidos." Alexis said.

"You'd make a fine palace girl, my beautiful doll." Abidos said looking at the blonde.

"The name's Alexis, you masked weirdo. What's going on?" the blonde asked.

"It's a Shadow Rider. After those Sacred Beasts like the rest." Zane said.

"It seems like the punk's got us out numbered." Chazz said.

"That's right, so just leave your keys and walk away. You don't want to duel me." Abidos said.

"I do! Over here! Please pick me! Come on!" Jaden said raising his hand in the air and pointed at himself with the other.

"Jaden." Syrus sighed.

"He just might beat Uncle Set or Dad one day if he keeps up that attitude." Dai said smiling with her arms crossed.

"And let me show ya how we duel in the 21st century." Jaden said.

"You can't talk to me like that." Abidos said highly insulted.

"You can't talk to him like that." His advisor repeated.

"Jaden, you realize this will be a Shadow Game?" Zane asked.

"He's right. Your soul's on the line." Alexis said gripping her left arm with her right with a worried look.

"And this guy's undefeated." Syrus said cowering.

"Not for long. I mean, once I'm done with him, I'll be the legend. So get your game on." Jaden said.

"My game is always on. Now prepare yourself, Key Keeper-"Abidos was cut off by the Raven Slifer.

"Yeah, yeah. We get it. It's not our first Shadow Game exactly. Catch!" Chazz said throwing a duel disk he acquired somewhere at Jaden.

"Hey, that duel disk looks just like mine." Syrus said looking in his back pack and seeing it was empty.

"All right. Time to throw down." Jaden said as he readied the duel disk and his deck.

Banner was still passed out with Pharaoh playing on his chest as everyone waited for the duel to start.

"Let's see. First, I think I'll summon Pharanoic Protector in DEF mode." Abidos said.

"No DEF points?" Syrus asked.

"And I'll lay down a face down. Your turn." The man said.

"Then here I go." Jaden said drawing a card.

"Not before I activate the First Sacophrocus." Abidos said.

"Huh? Never heard of that card." Jaden said.

"Well, after this match, you'll never forget it, though you may want to, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until I bring out another two Sacophrigi before you see why, Key Keeper." Abidos said.

"Two more?" Syrus asked looking worried.

"OK, whatever. Can I go now 'cause I've got a couple of Duel Monster tricks of my own that I wanna show you, Abidos." Jaden said smiling.

"Put your monsters where you mouth is." Abidos retorted.

"OK, but you asked for it. Here's Elemental Hero Avian in ATK Mode. And check out the spell card Heated Heart. Now a monster on my field gains 500 extra ATK points. Not too shabby, huh? But there's more. If he attacks a monster in DEF Mode, the extra damage goes right to you. See for yourself. Quill Cascade!" the child of Darkness called.

Avian sent out white feathers that were sharp like knives at Abidos' monster and destroyed it, along with taking out some Life Points.

"Sweetness. Duelling's not what it used to be, huh, old timer?" Jaden asked.

"No, it's much tamer now, but let me give you a taste of the old school. I play Second Sacophorigus. And once the third is played, this duel and your soul will be mine." Abidos said.

"What's it do?" Alexis asked as Banner finally woke up.

"I don't wanna know." Syrus whimpered.

"Next I'll play my Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two more cards from my deck. And I think I'll play one right now. Go Tribute to the New! Now, by discarding one card from my hand, your Avian is destroyed!" Abidos said.

Sand appeared in a whirl under Avivan and two mummy hands shot out, grabbing the Hero and pulling him under.

"And next I'll play Pharaoh's Servant in ATK Mode. Now, stick him." Abidos said.

The Servant charged at Jaden and stabbed at his feet with his golden spear, making his Life Points drop.

"Jaden!" Syrus called as the brunette cried out in pain.

"My undefeated record will be staying intact, but you will not. Don't worry, Key Keeper. After I play this face down, it's your turn again, if you have the strength left to play it that is." Abidos said.

"Come on, Ju-chan! You can beat this guy." Dai called making everyone look at her in curiosity of what she called him.

"Ju-chan?" they asked.

"Judai Jaden Kaiba. That's his real name." Flamedramon said in a tone that said 'duh!'

Jaden smirked, ready to get back into the game.

"Come on, give us present day peeps some credit. My go and I play this card! It's Emergency Call and it springs an Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand. And the Hero I'm springing is gonna be…Sparkman! And there's more. Next I'm playing the spell card known as Righteous Justice!" Jaden said.

"What's that do?" Syrus asked.

"For every Elemental Hero that Jaden has out on his field, well then, one of Abidos' spell or trap cards is destroyed." Zane explained.

"Yeah, like that First Sacophrogis you got over there. Well, looks like we're not gonna be seeing what it does after all." Jaden said smiling in a cute, yet silly way making Abodis growl in annoyance.

"Righteous Justice, destroy the First Sacophrogis!" he called.

"I don't think so. Go Magic Jammer. It serves your Righteous Justice into a righteous waste." Abidos said.

"Wicked counter, that's what I'm talking about." Jaden said.

"You should be talking about getting some new cards for that weak deck." Abidos said.

"Oh, he shouldn't have said that." Syrus said.

"He's a dead man." Dai said knowing the Kaiba pride was being called into play.

"Yeah, bad call." Alexis said.

"Weak? See if you think this is weak. Sparkman, attack!" Jaden called as his Hero did as he was told.

There went Abidos' monster and Life Points from the massive electric attack, the man falling to his knees from it all.

"You…can't attack me." Abidos gasped.

"I can't? Hate to break it to you, but, yeah I can. That's how ya play the game. Read the rule book." Jaden said as he scratched the back on his head with a thoughtful look wondering what the man was going on about.

"But I am Abidos the greatest duellist ever." He said.

"The greatest? Um, I'm not so sure about that. To tell you the truth, you haven't even been dueling that great. I mean, for someone who's undefeated, I was hoping for, I don't know, some super sweet monsters or wicked rare cards. But so far I've been kinda underwhelmed." Jaden pointed out.

"The duel is progressing at a...disappointing rate." Kyuubimon said.

"Yeah, his cards are hardly better than a starter deck. For a legend, this guy is a bit of a letdown." Syrus said.

"Looks like Jaden's gonna win this one easy. There goes my shot at a new room." Chazz said.

"Your move, Abidos." Jaden called to the man, but he just stayed in place.

"Hello? Hello?" Jaden called.

"I think we shocked him so bad he can't move." Dai said.

"Wait, could it be all my servants let me win?" Abidos asked coming back.

"Let you win?" the cousins asked.

"Wow, what a giant loser this guy is." Chazz said.

"You know what; I wouldn't mind having some servants like that." Syrus said.

"But his whole life has been a lie." Alexis said.

"You never really dueled?" Jaden asked.

"I guess not." The man said in despair.

"Then let's start your first lesson right now." Jaden said shocking Abidos and everyone else but his cousin and their partners.

"What?" Abidos asked.

"You heard me right. Now get your game on…again. But if this is gonna be your first real duel, let's do this right and ditch that mask." Jaden said.

Abidos reached up and removed his mask, revealing dark tanned skin and large dark violet eyes outlined in black.

"That's it." Jaden as they both smiled.

"Jaden, just promise me you'll give it your best." Abidos said.

"That's all I ever give. Now let's duel." The child of Darkness said.

During the duel, the duos of Miracles and Darkness both encouraged the young Pharaoh to do his best when he dueled, making their friends think they had gone nuts.

Abidos was close to winning, but in the end he lost the duel.

"That's game and a pretty good one, too. You got moves." Jaden said with a wink and his signature pose.

"Yeah, but not like Jaden's." Alexis smiled.

"Big, fat hairy deal. Ojama Hurricane's just as good." Chazz said.

"Abidos doesn't look so hot." Syrus said.

Jaden walked over to the man as he stayed on his knees with his head bent.

"Hey, what's the matter?" he asked making Abidos look up at him.

"I used to think I was the best duellist of all time, but now I know I need a lot of practise if I want to be a true dueling legend." Abidos said with a smile as Dai and Flamedramon got up on the stage, joining them.

"As long as you keep working hard for it, you might be able to make your dream come true one day." The Slifer Queen said.

"Of course you'll have to beat of us first." The Slifer King said as he placed a hand on his cousin's shoulder, the two sharing a smile.

Abidos smiled at the two chocolate eyed teenagers as he stood up.

"Well, I was thinking right now." He said.

"Right now? You want a rematch?" Jaden and Dai asked.

"No, Jaden." The young Pharaoh said as he took the boy's hand in both of his.

"You could come back with me." He said.

Everyone gasped at that, even the Pharaoh's servants and advisor.

"Jaden!" Syrus yelped.

"You're too good for this place. Listen, come back to my kingdom and I promise you power and fame." Abidos said with great passion.

"That's a really nice offer." Jaden said making Syrus freak out.

"Jaden, wait! You can't leave!" he yelled.

"Sweet, so I will get his room!" The Raven Slifer said.

"CHAZZ!" Syrus whined.

"Sounds nice, but I think I prefer it right here. And I also wouldn't dream of leaving Dai, Kyuubi and Flame. But, hey, drop me a line any time you're in my hood, OK?" Jaden said.

"Same with you, that is if you ever find a time vortex looping loophole or…you know what, I'll just call you." Abidos said making the duos of Darkness and Miracles laugh.

The students and teacher all got off of the ship as it began to hover into the air.

"Farewell!" Abidos called.

The ship was then covered in light as it disappeared, returning the Egyptians back to their own time period.

The Key Keepers then turned and began walking back to their dorms, talking along the way.

"You know, Abidos wasn't such a bad guy. I mean, hey, look what he gave me." Jaden said as he twirled the crown with the Eye of Horus on it around his finger.

Viximon and Chibimon were both resting on their partners' heads as they enjoyed the walk.

"You're getting a collection of those." Dai commented.

"But where's the Shadow Rider with a skateboard?" Jaden asked as the two chuckled.

"I don't see why Jaden gets all the free stuff." Chazz said.

"Probably because I beat a dueling legend." Jaden said.

"Oh, so now he's a legend 'cause you beat him?!" Chazz yelled.

"Well, Chazz, that is what all the history books say that he is, right?" Syrus asked innocently.

"Well we know the truth!" Chazz yelled back at him.

Zane and Alexis shared a look as they nodded to each other before the group continued on their way back to their own dorms, paying no mind to that fact that Banner had disappeared.

"He was a shame, a fake!" the Raven Slifer continued.

"Jaden the Legend Slayer. I like the sound of that." The Slifer King said.

"Can we go to bed now?" Chibimon whined looking half dead.

"Oh, stop being so weak. You are a Royal Knight after all. You've been through much worse and strenuous situations that this one shouldn't have affected you so." Viximon said.

"But I did it all on an empty stomach." The dragon whined.

The fox groaned in annoyance as the others all kept out of this argument.

To be continued…


	38. A Reason to Win

"A Reason to Win"

**Sorry about the wait, but here it is. It's short, sorry. Hope you all enjoy and please review!**

Dai was cuddling up in her bed with V-Mon sleeping when Duskmon appeared looking troubled.

He walked over to the bed and gently shook his Master awake as she groaned pitifully.

"Oh, what now?" she whined as she sat up in her bed.

"_I sensed a dark force. One of your friends may be in trouble. Hurry."_ Duskmon said.

Now fully awake, she got up and quickly dressed, V-Mon awake too.

Once Dai was in her uniform, she ran out of her room to see that Chazz was at Chumley, Syrua and Jaden's room with his three Ojamas hovering around him.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

"Bad news." Chazz said.

"Please don't tell me someone went missing." She almost begged.

The Raven Slifer nodded.

"Who's missing?" Jaden asked.

"Alexis." Chazz said.

The five Slifers were running off in the academy to meet up with the others after their search for the Obelisk Queen had failed and found Zane and Crowler.

"So?" Jaden asked.

"There's no sign. It's like she just disappeared." The Kaiser said.

"I don't understand. It's not like Alexis to up and vanish. Maybe her brother knows her where abouts." Crowler said as the group all went into the infirmary.

As they walked in, they saw that the male was collapsed on the floor.

"Atticus!" they called.

"Are you OK?" Jaden asked as they all rushed over.

Zane picked his friend up and held him so that he could see everyone.

"What happened here?" Zane asked.

"It was…him…T-Titan." Atticus said.

"It was Titan? Who is Titan?" Jaden asked as the others whined in worry.

"Talk to us." Zane said.

Renamon and V-Mon were looking at Crowler as he began sweating bullets for some reason.

The child of Miracles recognized that name and looked at Crowler with a glare on her face as she stood up.

"_The abandoned dorm." _Duskmon said making the students who could see spirits look at him.

"A Shadow Freak took Lexi to the abandoned dorm, huh?" Dai asked so the ones who couldn't see the Tainted Warrior of Darkness would know what was going on.

"Let's go then." Jaden said standing up.

"Dusk, can you take us there?" V-Mon asked.

Duskmon nodded as shadows wrapped around the group, everyone but the children of Darkness and Miracles shying away from the coldness of it.

Soon enough, they found themselves encased in utter darkness until it faded away a few seconds later and viewed them in a room of the abandoned dorm where Alexis and this man named Titan were getting ready to duel.

"They're gonna duel." Chumley said as he and Jaden held Atticus up between them.

"And how. Alexis, we're here for you, now beat this creep." Jaden called down to the blonde.

"Come on, Lex! Take this freak down." Dai called down her support.

"Ah, then this isn't about collecting that check." Crowler said in relief making Chazz look back at him.

"What check? What does that mean?" he asked making the man laugh nervously.

"Oh, nothing." He said.

"He paid Titan at the beginning of the year to duel Jaden in a fake shadow game to scare him off and make him drop out of Duel Academy." Dai said making the males all turn to Crowler who looked very pale.

"That was you?" Jaden asked.

"I knew I should have killed him when I had the chance." Renamon said.

"How do you know? Where do you have the proof?" the man yelled.

"I had Mercurymon and Arbourmon do some digging when I heard about the fake shadow game. My boys found the check." Dai said.

Crowler was sobbing at this pitifully while the others all rolled their eyes at his act.

Alexis and Titan then got into the duel that the Obelisk Queen was doing so that she can win her brother's memories back.

It looked bad for her as it raged on and after a while she took a hit that had her fall to the ground and snapped Atticus out of his dazed stupor.

"Alexis." He called.

"Don't give up. You can do this." He said.

"Bro." she gasped softly as she turned her head over to look at him.

"Lexi." He said.

She then forced herself up off of the ground, shocking Titan that she was still rearing to go after all of the damage he was inflicting on her.

Alexis then won the duel and the shadows that had consumed Titan and turned him into a Shadow Rider rose up and attacked him as he cried out in fear.

Alexis looked over to her friends and saw her brother was smiling at her.

When the shadows were gone, all that was left of Titan was his mask that had the Eye of Horus on it that Renamon collected and handed to her partner.

The group all walked out of the dorm as the sun started to rise up from the long night of terror, the Rhodes siblings facing each other.

"Atticus." Alexis said.

"Lexi." Atticus said.

They then hugged, happily reunited after all of this time of separation, Alexis' hope and faith in her brother being found finally realized and worth it.

"Atty, welcome back." She whispered.

"Thanks, Lex. For everything." Atticus said as the siblings pulled apart.

"But, wait. There are so many unanswered questions like how you ever wound up in the Shadow Realm. Titan said you did it for the power." Alexis said looking confused.

"Believe me, Lexi. I never chose to go. One day a few of us were told to meet at the abandoned dorm and then, well…it happened. See, there was supposed to be a duel test in the basement, but instead we found hundreds of those little shadow fiends. I couldn't escape. I was then brought to the Shadow Realm and kept. For months they brain washed me until I became this thing called Night Shroud." Atticus explained.

"But who? Who was it that brain washed you?" Alexis asked as the others all eagerly awaited the answer.

"I never did figure that out. However, the person that called me to take the duel test was…it was Professor Banner." The eldest Rhodes sibling said shocking everyone.

"Our Professor Banner?" Jaden asked.

"I knew it. Teachers are evil. I hate this school." Dai said.

Everyone then felt a sinking sense of betrayal at this news, no one sure of what to do or how to approach the Slifer teacher about this.

To be continued…


	39. Duel Monster Spirit Day

"Duel Monsters Spirit Day"

**OK, here is the episode where everyone dresses in costumes and I have chosen…wait and see. Please enjoy and review!**

_Something I regret doing?_

_Telling Mimi all about Duel Monsters Spirit day where we have to dress up as our favorite Duel Monster and she immediately decided to come down to the academy with Lillymon and made a costume for me without my consent on which monster I wanted._

_Speaking of, I called my blonde sempai and he came over to see the costume and yelled at Mimi, the two getting into an argument over it._

_Matt then told her to go back home while he and WereGarurumon stayed to make sure the boys didn't get too close to me._

_Oh and she made him a costume to match mine._

_P.S. Banner went missing as soon as we found out about him leading Atticus to the Shadow Realm._

A maroon haired girl was nervously walking beside an older blonde male with a tall blue dragon and large blue wolf standing on either side of the two humans, keeping them in the middle.

"Oh, are people staring?" Dai asked as she played with the pink feathers on her costume.

Matt looked around and spotted some of the girls staring at him with hearts in their eyes and his glared at some of the boys that were opening looking at his kohai.

When they met the child of Friendship's cold azure eyes, they quickly looked away in fear.

"Nope." Matt said smirking.

The child of Miracles sighed in relief as she looked around for her cousin and friends.

They found them at the card shack staring at Dorothy dressed up as the Dark Magician Girl with the boys giving her disturbed looks.

"Pull it off? Don't put that image in my brain! Please, Chum!" Syrus whined.

"Excuse me, but I make a great Dark Magician Girl and have for ten years. That's how long I've owned this costume." Dorothy said as she lifted her arm up giving a victory sign, but the side of it ripped.

"Oh, I thought the arms were feeling a little tight. Oh, and the seams too. Oh, well. One of you mind sewing it up?" she asked as the boys all shook their heads.

"Maybe Dai can dress up as the Dark Magician Girl." Syrus said hopefully.

"Actually, our friend Mimi, a Digidestind already made her a costume to where, but I haven't seen it yet." Jaden said.

"Just turn around." Matt said.

Alexis, Chumey, Bastion, Kotemon, Syrus, Jaden, Renamon and Dorothy all turned around and were in awe of the costumes that the two children of Friendship were wearing.

"Oh, Dai, you make such an adorable Harpie Girl. Who's this handsome young man dressed as Harpie's Brother?" the woman asked.

"This is my Yamato-sempai and his partner Garurumon." Dai said blushing as she clung to her sempai's arm.

Matt looked exactly like the Harpie's Brother, except he wasn't wearing a black wig.

Dai's costume was also altered since Harpie Girl's outfit was pretty revealing, so Mimi made her a sport's bra like black top to wear, but it wasn't tight around her breasts and she also wore short shorts that were black and her hair was left down while a black headband with a large pink plume was on it.

She also had the talons on her hands and feet and the pink fathers on her arms for wings that were actually black gloves.

"You look great, Dai." Alexis smiled.

"So this is Yamato 'Matt' Ishida, the child of friendship. It's a pleasure." Bastion nodded to the blonde.

"Hey, Bastion right? Dai-chan's told us all about her friends here that we can tell who's who just by looking at them." Matt smiled.

"Aw, Daaaai! I was counting on ya to dress up as the Dark Magician Girl for my costume duel." Syrus whined as he clung to the girl.

"Stop crying, Sy." Flamedramon said sweat dropping.

**(Later on…)**

"Help! Help! Duel Monster! Please don't claw me, please!" Chumley yelled when Alexis showed off her costume to Dai, Matt, Chumley and Jaden while the digimon were all outside watching over Syrus.

"Chill, Chumley. It's a costume. See, look. I'm going as Harpir Lady. So what do you think?" Alexis asked as she donned the less revealing outfit that Harpie Lady wore.

"What do I think? I think I'm majorly relieved." Chumley sighed.

"So, what are Jazz and Mindy going as?" Jaden asked with a grin.

"Same thing, that way when we're all together we'll be the Harpies Ladies Sisters. With Matt and Dai as Harpie Girl and Harpie Brother, the entire set is complete. I think all these Shadow Games are taking a toll on Chumley." Alexis joked when the poor Slifer Senior yelled in shock at the thought.

"What are you gonna be, Jaden?" she asked.

"Uh, well…" the child of Darkness trailed off as he looked at the costumes that were offered to try on.

"I think…this!" He said as he chose the costume and tried it on.

"OK and what exactly is that?" Syrus asked as he came in.

"Well, I wanted to be a few monsters, so I just took a couple pieces from each of them." Jaden said.

"At least no one will have the same costume as you." Alexis said smiling nervously.

"It doesn't look that bad." Matt said.

There were then heavy footsteps heard so they all turned to see Chazz walking over in his costume.

"Chazz dressed up as XYZ Cannon Dragon." Jaden said as everyone was outide to stare at the costume in awe.

"You're sure that's Chazz, right? Right?" Chumley asked.

"Now this is a costume." Chazz said.

"How can he even move in that thing?" Dai asked.

"It's the best one I've ever seen." Alexis said.

"Is that…Alexis?" Chazz asked looking at her with flushed cheeks making Flamedramon and Garurumon snicker.

"Uh, I don't remember XYZ Dragon Cannon ever blushing, Chazz." Syrus said making Dai giggle.

"Shut up." Chazz snapped as he turned to walk away.

"Now let's get down to business and start this costume duel." He said as he walked to the painted lines on the field while a group of students watched on the sidelines.

"Who's it gonna be? All, Jaden, since no one's volunteering, I'm gonna volunteer for you. You're dueling." The Raven Slifer said.

"Really? I am? Well, OK. Get your game on, Chazz." Jaden smiled.

"Yeah right. I can't duel in this costume. I can hardly walk." Chazz scoffed.

"Then what's the point of it?" Garurumon asked.

"It's Chazz. He doesn't really think about this stuff first. He cares more about appearance." Flamedramon said.

"All right. Chumley, duel?" Jaden asked the heavyset male who nodded.

"I really shouldn't. Just ate." Chumley said.

"And you, Syrus?" Jaden asked looking down at the bluenette.

"Sorry, but I'm the Master of Ceremonies for this duel. I'm doing the play by play." Syrus said as there was a flash of light.

The group all turned to see that Atticus was standing there with a black camera and a smile on his face.

"What are you doing?" Alexis asked.

"Oh, just big brother stuff. Like taking embarrassing photos of you that I can show Mom and Dad later." The Obelisk boy said.

"No, you will not." Alexis said.

"And Uncle Doug and Aunt Gale and cousin Alanna." Atticus said.

Alexis then swiped her fake talons at him, making him run away as she chased after him.

Matt chuckled as he wrapped an arm around Dai's shoulders as he pulled out a camera.

"Well, he has a point. We did promise Mimi pictures after all." He said as the two smile as he snapped a photo of them.

"That's just great. Now I got no one to duel." Jaden pouted while Renamon shook her head in amusement.

"Uh uh. I'll duel you." A female voice said making them all turn.

A girl who looked exactly like the Dark Magician Girl was standing there looking so sweet and innocent as she smiled at them all.

"Dark Magician Girl?!" the boys all gasped.

"Now that costume fits." Syrus said.

The boys in the ground were staring at her in awe, making Dai roll her eyes, but she was happy to attention was off of her.

"So, can I?" the girl asked.

"Can you what? Wait, duel? Absolutely. For sure. As organizer at this event, I say yes." Chazz said.

"But Sy organized this." Jaden said.

"Who cares? The answer is still yes. If that's OK with you, I mean." Syrus said to the blonde girl.

"Aw, you're cute. Of course it's OK. Let's do this." Dark Magician Girl said giving a victory sign.

The children of Friendship moved to the crowd to stand over the males that were all sitting.

"My, what a lovely turn out. Who is dueling in this match?" came Crowler's voice.

Matt, Dai, Flamedramon and Garurumon all turned around to see Crowler, Zane, Bastion and Kotemon arrive on the scene.

The duo of Miracles laughed at what Bastion was wearing.

"Amazoness Tiger?" Dai asked.

"I thought it was a brilliant costume idea." Bastion said while Kotemon sighed.

"Who're your friends, Dai?" Zane asked as he looked at the wolf and male.

Crowler screamed in shock when the blue wolf growled softly and he then passed out.

"We should really keep score of that." Kotemon said.

"I'm Matt Ishida and this is Garurumon. You're…Zane, right? Syrus' brother." The blonde said.

"Yes. Why are you here?" the Kaiser asked as the three digimon poked Crowler, trying to revive him.

"To watch over my Dai-chan, that's what." Matt said patting Dai's head with a tenderness that Zane had seen Atticus do to Alexis once.

"So who is dueling?" Bastion asked.

"Ju-chan and the Dark Magician Girl." Dai said.

"Are you sure it's a girl in a costume and not a real person?" Matt asked as they all watched.

The duel began, but Syrus was playing favorites because of his crush on the Dark Magician Girl, so Dai conked him over the head and took up the announcer position to be fair.

As it turned out, the blonde was the spirit of the real sorceress that had come to the school for some fun.

The boys in the crowd turned on Jaden because they were under the spell of Dark Magician Girl's looks, so Dai yelled at them all while the dragon and wolf all snarled, making them shut up.

Dark Magician Girl lost, but she just laughed it off, much like Jaden would.

"What a fun match. See you around, Jaden. You guys, too!" she said waving to her fans.

"And that's the end of it. But don't worry; there'll be a lot more fun duels to have around here. Enjoy!" Dai chirped with a smile.

"Man, it's not easy being the bad guy." Jaden said as he rubbed the back of his head when the crowd cheered for the loser of the game.

"Aw, sometimes the girls like the bad guys. I mean, so I've heard." Alexis said as his friends walked over to him.

"All right. Yeah, of course." Jaden smiled at them.

"Now the only question is; who was that girl?" Bastion asked.

"Yeah, really. You'd think we would've seen her around." Zane said.

"Yeah, ya think. Oh, well. It's still Duel Monster Spirit Day, so let's party!" the child of Darkness cheered.

**(That night…)**

"Yeah, check us out. Harpie's Ladies Sister, Harpie and Harpie Brother in the house." Mindy said as she, Jasmine, Alexis, Matt and Dai all stood together.

"But no pictures. Lexi won't allow it." Jasmine said as all the boys and girls stared at them.

"You wouldn't either if you had a big bro like mine." Alexis said.

"Actually, we have an even bigger surprise." Jaden said as jumped up on a stage dressed up as Agunimon, the costume Mimi had made for him.

Matt smirked as he dragged Dai up onto the stage where the instruments were and her eyes widened in horror as Atticus was up there as well.

"It turns out our little Slifer Queen is a singer and song writer." The Obelisk said.

The girl whimpered as she tried to get away, but her sempai proved to be too strong as he set her down in front of the microphone while he grabbed a guitar.

"This is a song she wrote and we're all gonna play it for you." Jaden said making the crowd cheer.

Dai groaned, but then smiled as her Warriors came up with smirks as she came up with a plan.

She had Sakkakumon unknowingly envelope the island inside of him so that he could show them images while the band played.

The music started up as Matt, atticus and Jaden all played.

"_Calling all the monsters._

_Calling all the monsters_

_I'm calling all_

_I'm calling all_

_I'm calling the monsters."_ Dai sang as images of Matt's past battles played around everyone who were amazed by the special effects.

"_Oh yay aye_

_Oh yay aye_

_Oh yay aye_

_Ehh_

_Ehh_

_Herat thumps and you jump_

_Coming down with goose bumps_

_You dared to go there_

_Imma _

_Imma_

_Get you so scared_

_We're wanting to_

_We're haunting you_

_We're wanting you_

_Ehh_

_Ehh_

_If you stayed and too late to be getting afraid_

_This scene extreme_

_Imma get you so scared." _Dai sang as images of her past battles were shown all around them.

"_We're wanting to_

_We're haunting you_

_We're wanting you_

_Ehh_

_Ehh_

_Gonna get your body shaking_

_Wishing you could just awaken_

_Here we go_

_Tonight all the monsters gonna dance_

_We're coming to get cha_

_Tonight all the monsters gonna dance_

_We're coming to get cha_

_If you're only dreaming_

_Why do I hear you screaming_

_Tonight all the monsters gonna dance_

_We're coming to get cha_

_We're coming to get cha." _She sang as the armour evolutions were shown on the next part.

"_Calling all the monsters_

_Calling all the monsters_

_I'm calling all_

_I'm calling_

_I'm calling all the monsters."_ She sang as the five main armor evolutions were shown.

"_You hide or you try_

_Kiss tomorrow goodbye_

_We thrill to your chill_

_Bu-bucking for a freak out."_ She sang as it showed the first battle with Diaboramon.

"_We're wanting to_

_We're haunting you_

_We're wanting to_

_We might just bite_

_Underneath the moonlight."_ Dai sang as Myotismon was shown.

"_More fun if you run_

_Imma _

_Imma _

_Already chasing."_ She sang as it showed her, Matt and Jaden riding on Garurumon, Raidramon and Kyuubimon.

"_We're wanting to_

_We're haunting you_

_We're wanting to_

_Ehh_

_Ehh_

_Gonna get your body shaking_

_Wishing you could just awaken_

_Here we go_

_Tonight all the monsters gonna dance_

_We're coming to get cha_

_Tonight all the monsters gonna dance_

_We're coming to get cha_

_If your only dreaming_

_Why I hear you screaming_

_Tonight all the monsters gonna dance_

_We're coming to get cha_

_We're coming to get cha_

_Calling all the monsters_

_Calling all the monsters_

_Calling all_

_I'm calling all the monsters."_ Dai sang as it showed scenes of the Legendary Warriors fighting.

"_Gonna paint it red_

_Get inside your head_

_Head _

_Head."_ She sang as the scenes showed Koichi screaming as he held onto his head as he was flashing between himself and Duskmon.

Garurumon then howled then, making everyone jump.

"_Like a demon choir_

_Playing with fire_

_Fire _

_Fire."_ She sang as it showed BurningGreymon ending out his Wild Fire Tsunami at Duskmon.

"_Gonna get your body shaking_

_Wishing you could just awaken."_ Matt sang sending a wink to the girls who screamed happily.

"_Tonight all the monsters gonna dance_

_We're coming to get cha_

_Tonight all the monsters gonna dance_

_We're coming to get cha_

_If you're only dreaming_

_Why I hear ya screaming_

_Tonight all the monsters gonna dance_

_We're coming to get cha_

_We're coming to get cha_

_Oh yay aye_

_Oh yay aye_

_Oh yay aye_

_We're coming to get you."_ Dai sang as it showed Kimeramon, MaloMyotismon, Lucemon and Apocalymon were all destroyed.

Sakkakumon released them all as the students and teachers cheered wildly at the performance that was displayed.

The child of Miracles was blushing as the crowd cheered and the three males behind her came up and hugged her as they laughed.

"Never make me do that again." She said as the three boys pulled away.

"No promises, Dai-chan." Matt said as he kissed her head.

"Aw, isn't that a sweet brother/sister moment." Atticus said as they all walked off the stage as Syrus, Chumley, Alexis, Chazz, Bastion, Zane and the digimon came over to them.

"We're not brother and sister." Dai said.

"I actually have a younger brother that Dai's friends with and that's how we met. Tai and I kind of treat Dai like she's our sister though." Matt explained.

"And you overdo it. You two don't fuss over TK and Kari as much as you do Daisuke." Renamon pointed out.

"Either way, that was an amazing performance and it wasn't even planned?" Alexis asked.

"We do have the child of Miracles with us. We can pull anything off with her around." Jaden said making his cousin blush as she laughed.

Matt smiled as he watched her interact with all of her new friends, happy to see that she was safe with them all and he had nothing to worry about.

To be continued…


	40. Dai's Third Brother

"Dai's Third Brother"

It was a normal day at the academy with no Shadow Riders making another appearance or Duel Monster Spirits coming to visit unless they were the 11 Legendary Warriors, Winged Kuriboh and the Ojama Brothers.

V-Mon had found a stash of soda in the fridge in the kitchen and greedily drank all of them, only to go on a sugar high and was bouncing off of the walls all around the dorm, much to the annoyance of all of the Slifers.

After the dragon finally crashed, Chazz had been the one to find him and brought him to Dai's room, where she thanked the Raven Slifer and then scolded her dragon when he woke up feeling sick.

She sent him to Joe to watch over him while he was sick since the child of Miracles couldn't do it when she had classes that day.

Dai kissed his head and wished well before she sent him through the portal to the child of Reliability's home and then she went off to class.

The day carried on, long and boring with nothing much to do, the two cousins sleeping through most of them as Renamon watched over them with disapproving and adoring eyes.

When the school day was finally over, Dai was walking back to her dorm so that she could go check on her dragon when she accidentally bumped into an Obelisk male.

"Sorry about that." She said with a small smile to the tall black haired male and went to leave.

She was stopped by him grabbing her wrist and pulled her back over to him with a grin that made her frown.

"No worries, but what's the rush?" he asked.

"I have somewhere to go." She said narrowing her chocolate eyes at him.

"Aw, come on. I'm sure you can spend a few more minutes talking to me." He said with a certain look in his dark eyes that made the maroon haired girl's skin crawl.

Unknown to them, they were being watched by another Obelisk male that was staying close by in case he needed to intervene if the black haired male did something to upset the Slifer Queen even more.

The girl was special and in the short time he had known her, he came to care for her as a baby sister and was even asked by Matt to watch out for her in his and Tai's place while they were separated.

"I don't think I can." Dai said with a small sneer as she tried to pull away, but was pulled right back.

"Now, now. I'm Dylan and you are?" the black haired male asked.

"Not interested, now let me go." The girl said as she went to kick him, but Dylan shook her and made her loose her balance.

"Play nice, Slifer. No need to get testy." He said leaning his face down far too close to hers.

Dai growled at him and spat in his face, making Dylan pull back and wipe the saliva off in disgust as the girl tried to run, but he pulled her back again as anger surged through him.

"You little witch! You'll pay for that!" he said raising his other hand to hit her.

The watcher, deciding he had seen enough, ran over and caught Dylan's hand making the black haired look up to see two hazel eyes narrowed dangerously at him.

Dai looked up to see what was going on and saw that another Obelisk, one she was friends with and become good friends with her sempai of Friendship had come to her rescue.

"Atticus Rhodes? What're you doing?" Dylan asked stunned to see the long haired brunette come to the aid of the only female Slifer.

Atticus' lips curved up into a smile, but his eyes were filled with anger and ice as he stared at the black haired male.

"That's no way to treat a lady. All woman deserve to be treated with respect and kindness…even those who are tough cookies like my little dragon here." He said with a wink at the child of Miracles.

"You're little dragon?" Dylan asked.

Dai took this as her chance to escape and brought her leg up and gave a sharp kick to Dylan's knee with the heel of her foot making him let go of her arm and yelp in pain.

The girl got up off the ground and glared at the Obelisk while Atticus gave his sister's friend a look of pride at how she caused this scumbag pain.

"Now, I hope you learned a lesson here." Atticus said to the other Obelisk as he stood up properly and glared at the one who had caused his knee cap to throb so badly.

"The only thing I know is that that little brat is dead when I get my hands on her!" Dylan yelled as he made a dive for the girl, who back flipped out of the way.

Atticus stepped in front of Dylan and landed a punch to his face, making him stumble and fall onto his bottom.

Some others students from Ra, Slifer and Obelisk had gathered around and watched the small fight that was going on, Zane and Bastion in the crowd as they saw the way Atticus came into the rescue of the Slifer Queen and then she fought back.

"Well, isn't this interesting." Bastion said as Kotemon sat on his partner's back as he looked at their friends.

"I've never seen Atticus act like that before." The Kaiser said with slight shock.

His best friend had never been much of the violent type.

He was a lover, not a fighter unless it was Duel Monsters.

The fact that he had punched out one of his fellow dorm mates in the defence of a girl he hadn't even known for that long.

Zane smiled a bit as Dylan got up and glared at Atticus and Dai as the brunette wrapped an arm around the maroon haired girl with a smile.

"Daisuke really knows how to influence people. She draws them in and they care about her in only the short amount of time they've known her." Zane said.

"That's because she has the digi egg of Friendship. She makes friends with whoever she meets and they become close." Kotemon said while he and Bastion looked at him.

"That is true. You can't say you don't feel the same way. Even you must have felt the connection that Jaden and Daisuke create between all of us here." The Ra said.

The Kaiser cleared his throat discretely as he looked back over to Dai and Atticus.

"I'll ask again. What did you learn?" Atticus asked as he hugged the Slifer Queen to his chest.

Dylan gulped as he whipped away the blood that had spilled from his nose when Atticus punched him in the face.

"Leave the girl alone?" he asked nervously.

"How about you leave all of the girls alone? You should learn to take an f-ing hint. Believe me, if you touch me or any other girl again when they don't want to be, they'll punch you in the lip or worse." Dai stated.

"Have a nice day now." Atticus chirped as he then led the girl away, the crowd leaving since the fight was over now.

Atticus and Dai walked over to where Bastion, Zane and Kotemon were, both smiling at their friends as the lizard jumped down from his partner's back.

"Are you OK?" he asked the child of Miracles.

"Yeah, I'm good." Dai said smiling down at him.

"I'm surprised that you didn't have Flamedramon with you to protect you. It was lucky that Atticus was here to step in when he did." Bastion said.

"Where is he anyway?" Kotemon asked curiously.

"At the hospital if he knows what's good for him." Came Chazz's voice making the group all turn to see Syrus, Jaden, Renamon and the Raven Slifer walking over.

"Dai, are you OK?" the bluenette asked as he threw himself at the girl and hugged her around the waist as he cried out sadly.

"Hey, I've fought worst freaks before. Don't worry so much. Aw, stop crying." Dai whined as the shorter male clung to her.

Renamon chuckled softly at this while the child of Darkness walked over to Atticus making the Obelisk look down at him.

"Thanks for watching out for her." Jaden said to him.

"Hey, no problem. I did promise Matt after all. Dai's a real sweetie and it was fun to play the protective big brother like that. I never had to punch anyone who bothered Lexi before, so this was kinda fun. Does she get into trouble like this all the time?" Atticus asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised. The girl's got an attitude and temper." Chazz said.

"You're one to talk." Bastion said making the Raven Slifer scoff at that.

After a while Dai went to her room and opened up the portal and went to visit Joe to see how V-Mon was feeling.

She was in the room and saw that the blue haired male was checking the dragon's temperature and Gomamon was resting in the corner.

"Hey guys." Dai greeted making the three males look up to her.

Gomamon jumped up from the floor and ran over to the female leader, jumping into her arms with a giggle.

"Hey, it's been a while. Are ya bringin' us to the island? I wanna see the ocean around the island and go for a swim. The beach is really cool from what V-Mon told us." The seal said as his tail wagged and his green eyes gave her that begging look that V-Mon always did.

"Gomamon." Joe scolded.

"What? I was just askin'." Gomamon pouted as the girl walked over and sat on the bed.

"So, what did you learn?" Dai asked her dragon.

"Soda's evil?" V-Mon whimpered pitifully as he still looked sick.

"What am I gonna do with you?" the girl asked her partner lovingly.

"Spoil me?" V-Mon suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Gomamon said as he got out of the girl's arms.

Dai then picked up her partner and held him in her arms and kissed his forehead.

"He'll be fine. He was sick all day though with all of his vomiting and stomach pains, but it's all passed now. All he needs now is a good night's sleep." Joe said as he fixed his glasses with a smile.

"Thanks, Joe. See ya guys. Say hi to the others for me." Dai said as she stood up and walked over to the computer and then opened up the portal and held up her D-3.

As the duo of Miracles disappeared, Joe sighed as he sat down on the bed, watching the lights fade away as the portal was closed up from the other side by the female leader.

Gomamon waddled over to his partner and looked up at him with a concerned face.

"Joe? What's got cha so down?" he asked.

"It's just…I know Jaden and Dai have another Digidestind there to help them, but I know there's trouble. We all do and we can't help them. After Matt and Mimi dropped in for a visit, Daisuke banned us all from going for a visit ever again. Just what is going on at that school?" the child of Reliability asked as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"I think you need to stop being such a worry wart. Dai's strong and she has a bunch of good friends on that island with her. She may not be the smartest person around and neither is Jaden, but they have V-Mon and Renamon with them. Not to mention that new Digidestind guy is a super genius from what Tentomon and Izzy told us. It'll be fine. If Dai couldn't handle it then she would call us." Gomamon said.

Joe smiled down at his partner and nodded at him gratefully, but still couldn't help but feel worried just as he knew Tai, Kari, TK, Ken and Matt were.

"Yeah, you're right." He said.

To be continued…

**I thought I'd just make a filler chapter for everyone to enjoy. It's stalling until the whole Sacred Beast battle, but I hope you all still like it.**


	41. Champions and Cheaters

Dai was standing a side watching as Kotemon and V-Mon sparred with each other, Bastion standing beside her as he watched.

"Explain to me again what this will accomplish." The Ra said.

"Kotemon should have digivolved to his Champion form by now. I don't know why he hasn't. I mean, he has a healthy diet, so he isn't low on energy. And you've been in danger many times, which should have been enough to make him digivolve to protect you. I just can't figure out what makes it hard for him to reach his Champion form." Dai said with narrowed eyes.

The quartet was in the Digital World at the moment, watching the sparring Rookies go at it.

Bastion hummed in thought as he kept his eyes on Kotemon as he kept getting knocked back down onto his bottom or side by the dragon.

He didn't know why Kotemon wasn't digivolving either and he was beginning to worry that maybe it was his fault that Kotemon wasn't strong enough.

Kotemon cried out as he hit the ground on his front.

"That's enough." Dai called making V-Mon hold a hand out to the lizard, who took it with a weak smile.

"Daisuke, do you think perhaps this is my fault Kotemon can't reach his Champion form?" Bastion asked looking distressed.

The maroon haired girl gasped and looked at him with a small smile.

"I can't answer because I have no idea. But never mind that. Let's go back to the academy." She said.

The Ra gave her a smile and waited on their partners to walk over to them before the group then started walking off back to their portal.

"Hey, don't be so down. Maybe you're still growing." V-Mon said to his upset friend.

"I don't know. Maybe I was never meant to reach my Champion form." Kotemon sighed sadly.

V-Mon whined at his friend's distress.

Meanwhile, the two Digidestinds were walking ahead in silence when they found the TV portal and went over to it.

Dai was pulling out her D3, when suddenly a fireball was being shot towards her, making Bastion's eyes widen in shock and he grabbed the girl around her waist and pulled her back out of the way, the two humans falling onto the ground with the girl in the boy's arms as the fireball hit the TV and it exploded.

"Dai!"

"Bast!"

The two digimon ran over to their partners, checking to see if they were hurt.

"Are you all right?" Bastion asked the girl he was holding.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What was that?" Dai asked as the two humans stood up to see a large lizard like digimon jump out of the trees and stalking towards them.

"Uh oh. DarkLizardmon isn't someone you'd wanna get on the bad side of." V-Mon said as the four backed away from the bad digimon.

"Why did it attack us? I thought there were no more dangers in the Digital World anymore." Bastion said.

"Some digimon aren't as accepting of humans, namely the Virus types." Dai said.

DarkLizardmon gave a roar as she ran at them, but V-Mon jumped in front of the humans and punched the lizard back, but she just turned her body around and hit him across the face with her tail.

"V-MON!" Dai cried as DarkLizardmon pounced on him and started rolling around with him on the ground, both throwing hits.

"DIGI ARMOUR-"

Dai yelled as she was cut off when she was hit by a small fireball on her leg.

"Daisuke!" Bastion cried as the girl leaned into his side as the horrible scent of burnt flesh filled his nose.

Kotemon looked at the duo of Miracles, feeling helpless and horrified that this beast had hurt them like this.

The need to protect them all filled him and he ran at DarkLizardmon and grabbed her tail, giving a hard tug that made her snarl and turn her attention away from V-Mon and back to Kotemon.

"Kotemon, run!" Bastion cried as he picked up the Slifer Queen bridal style.

V-Mon groaned as he forced himself off of the ground, bruises and cuts on his skin as he gritted his teeth.

DarkLizardmon went after Kotemon, but he jumped out of the way of her attacks.

The flaming lizard sent out a flame attack that went straight towards Bastion and Dai, both looking scared.

The two Rookies looked at their partners with worry and fear gripping at their hearts.

They both got up with glares on their faces as they ran over to their partners, just as two bright lights hit them.

"V-Mon digivolve too…XV-MON!"

"Kotemon digivolve too…DINOHYUMON!"

The two humans were close to be getting hit, when all of a sudden a large blade appeared in front of them and sliced through the flames.

"What?" Bastion asked.

He looked at the owner of the blade and saw a large lizard that looked like a warrior standing there next to him while XV-Mon was behind DarkLizardmon.

The new digimon looked at the Ra and smiled.

"Don't recognize me, Bast?" he asked.

Bastion gasped while Dai laughed in relief.

"Nice timing." She said.

"K-Kotemon?" Bastion asked bewildered.

"Actually, it's Dinohyumon now. This is my Champion form. Now, who wants barbequed lizard for dinner?" the Champion asked as he charged at DarkLizardmon and landed a hit into her metal mask and sending her back.

"Maybe we should cool her off." XV-Mon said as he took to the air and spotted a river nearby.

Dinohyumon nodded as he ran off to where the dragon was flying to, DarkLizardmon snarling as she chased after them, intent on tearing them apart.

The two humans watched this, then Bastion took off after them at a safe distance to see what would happen next.

Dinohyumon burst out of the forest and came to a stop when he found himself at the lake, XV-Mon hovering above.

DarkLizardmon came out soon enough and charged at the male lizard, but he pulled out his blade and made to slice at her, making her jump.

XV-Mon took this chance and sent out his V Laser and it hit the ground where DarkLizardmon was about to land, making her fall back from the force of the blast while Dinohyumon stabbed his blade into the earth to keep him in place and DarkLizardmon went flying into the lake.

Steam rose up from the water, the two males watching to see if she would come back out, but she didn't for at least five minutes, so they relaxed.

"Nice work." XV-Mon said as he landed next to his friend.

'Couldn't have done it without you, pal." Dinohyumon said as they both smiled at each other and clasped hands.

They both looked up when Bastion came through with Dai in his arms.

"Where's DarkLizardmon?" he asked.

"Gone. We took care of her." Dinohyumon said.

"Awesome. You guys showed her a thing or two." Dai smiled.

"But how do we get back to the academy with the portal out of commission?" Bastion asked.

"We find another." XV-Mon said as he scooped the two humans up in his arms and took to the air, Dinohyumon jumping up to grab onto his foot and held on as the dragon took off to find another portal.

A short while later the four were back at Duel Academy Island and Fontain had Dai's leg wrapped up.

Dinohyumon and Bastion went back to their dorm, the students in awe as they saw them.

XV-Mon had turned into Flamedramon and was walking with Dai, who was on a crutch, to go find Jaden and Renamon.

They found them in the duel arena where Alexis was dueling some guy dressed in a white suit with brown hair and glasses.

"So who is this stiff and why has he got it in with Alexis?" Jaden asked as he stood near the stage with Renamon, Chumley and Syrus.

"Shall we, ma cheri?" the male asked.

"Bring it." Alexis said.

"I don't know who he is, but I don't like him." Dai said as she took a seat near the stage as Flamedramon watched.

This French man was some type of gambler that Alexis knew from her past and he wasn't making a good impression on the others.

It was revealed that the French man had only ever lost a duel to Alexis and it made him feel annoyed and he wanted to win this duel against the Obelisk Queen.

She told them how they met when the French man was a new student at her elementary school and he ripped everyone off by gambling with them even though everyone was so nice to them.

Alexis wasn't going to stand for Pierre, the French man's selfish ways and so she challenged him next, but in a duel with her mother's scarf on the line.

The Obelisk Queen won time and time again, Pierre accusing her of cheating and just stole her mother's red scarf from her, even though he had lost.

Pierre was just luck Dai was on crutches or else she would run over and beat him, but then again she could always just throw her crutch at him and it would do some damage.

In the end, Alexis won the duel.

"Ha! Nice job, Lex!" Jaden cheered.

"Yeah, way to play." Syrus said as he and Chumley slapped hands.

"Totally lischous." The heavyset male said.

"I don't care. You just got lucky, femme fatal." Pierre said angered.

"Pierre, I beat you because I don't believe in luck. I work hard and I play even harder. That's why I won. Luck is a loser's excuse." Alexis said as she turned.

"Je suis désolé. I'm sorry. The only reason I wanted to duel was because I loved you." Pierre said making her stop with wide eyes while the duo of Miracles groaned in disbelief and disgust.

"I thought if I won that maybe you would fall in love with me, Alexis." Pierre said as he took the red scarf and tossed it over to the blonde haired girl and she turned around, catching it.

"Au revoir. Unless you want to come with me?" The French man said with a hopeful smile.

"Oh, gag me." Dai groaned as she leaned back in her seat when she saw that Crowler, Sheppard, Syrus and Chumley all looked to be in awe of Pierre's confession.

"S'il vous plait?" Pierre begged.

"No." Alexis said.

"Well the, adieu." Pierre said as he turned and began walking off of the stage.

"Well, that was tough." Jaden said as he and the boys joined Alexis up on the stage.

"Well, les coeurs est sait raison. You know what I'm saying?" Chumley asked.

"What?" Syrus asked.

"Uh, whateves. You played great, Alexis. Pierre, you too. Now bon voyage!" the child of Darkness called to the French male, who paused in his step and looked back at him curiously.

"That's right, I know some French. That is French, right?" Jaden asked.

"Oh mon Dieu, Jaden, arrêtez cela." Dai called down to her cousin, making everyone look up to the half Japanese and half American girl that spoke perfect French.

"Dai? Depuis combien de temps êtes-vous là?" Jaden asked his cousin as everyone looked at the Slifer King in surprise next.

"Depuis le début du duel." Dai said as she shrugged.

"Wait a minute! You guys speak French? When did this happen and didn't you tell us?" Syrus asked.

"Hel-lo. We have friends in France, Russia, Australia, America, Mexico, India and China. We kinda needed to learn their languages." Dai said as she gathered her crutches and Flamedramon picked her up, jumping over to the group with the girl in his arms.

"She's right." Jaden said.

"What happened to your leg and why do you look worse for wear, Flamedramon?" Renamon asked seeing the wrapped up leg and cuts and bruises that were on the dragon.

"It's a long story. We'll tell you on the way back to our dorms." The dragon said as the group all then began walking with each other, the Chancellor and teacher watching them all as they went.

To be continued…


	42. The Search

The day started with Dai waking up late and walked into the cafeteria where she saw Chazz, Renamon, Chumley, Syrus and Jaden were there at the Raven Slifer's table, the fox and boys in red looking angered and all of the food was eaten.

"What happened to the food?" V-Mon asked making everyone turn to see the duo of Miracles.

"Daaaaai! Chazz is being Chazz again! He ate all of our food." Syrus whined as he ran over to the girl, clinging to her waist.

"Why are ya crying to her about this?" the Raven Slifer asked as he stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

"Because she's scarier than any of the teachers at D.A.I. and the Shadow Riders when she's mad." Chumley suggested.

"…I see your point." Chazz relented as he sat back down.

"Banner still isn't back yet?" Dai asked as she ruffled Syrus' hair.

"No. I'm getting worried about this too." Jaden said with narrowed eyes.

Dai sighed as she pulled the shorter boy's arms off of her and headed to the kitchen, V-Mon keeping close to her since her leg was still wrapped up from DarkLizardmon's attack.

"So, who wants grilled cheese?" she asked.

"Yay!" Chumley and Syrus cheered as they sat at their usual table, Jaden laughing while Chazz sighed in annoyance.

Those two were such saps when it came to the Slifer Queen and her cooking.

**(Later in class…)**

All of the students were in their seats, waiting for their teacher to come in.

Jaden looked miserable about the fact that Banner was still missing as he sat between Syrus and Chumley, Dai sitting down closer to the doors because of her leg.

Just then, the doors opened and Crowler walked into the room, some of the students groaning in disbelief that he was acting as their sub for alchemy.

"Good morning students. Guess what? Due to Professor Banner's absence, I will be your substitute teacher for the day. Now aren't you lucky because I'm certainly not. It was supposed to be my day off." Crowler said annoyed as he slammed his books down on the desk.

"Let's see here. The mark of Amnial. That looks like… That's right, that's where Banner left off. Poor duel alchemy experience I'm sure. Oh, well. According to these tomes, the basics of this are…" Crowler said as Dai tuned him out.

He really had no idea what he was even talking about and she could barely understand half of the things he was saying.

The man finally lost his temper and slammed the book shut in his frustration.

"What gibberish! This makes no sense! And he's teaching you it?! Perhaps it's a good thing he's missing. After all, he's diluting your young minds with dawdle. It's grade A academic strife! Duel rapt! Useless tripe!" the Obelisk teacher yelled.

Crowler then went into the lab work after he had calmed down and caused a small explosion and wound up getting a hot metal wand stuck on his face and it burned him, leaving a mark.

He started complaining yet again, so Dai snuck out without anyone knowing about it.

She went to Sheppard's office since she was bored and didn't want to go back to her room because it would do nothing for her.

Besides, if she did, then she'd have to work on her counseling sessions with the brother Warriors.

They were making great progress and got along fine now, but they still had some issues to work out and she just wanted to have a break from them, no matter how much she loved Duskmon, Lowemon and Lobomon.

Once she walked into the office, the man stopped his work and smiled up at the girl as V-Mon walked inside with her.

"Ah, Daisuke. Good. The others will be here soon." The man said.

Curious, the duo sat down as they waited for Zane, Jaden, Renamon, Alexis, Bastion, Dinohyumon and Chazz to walk into the room.

"What do you mean we still lost?" Jaden asked.

"Professor Banner couldn't have vanished into thin air. Could he?" he asked.

"Who knows? The bottom line is we've looked everywhere and can't find him." Sheppard said.

"And there's no log of him leaving the island." Crowler said.

"Then I think we all know what happened. Banner got sucked into the shadows." Chazz said.

"Don't say that." Alexis said frowning at him.

"No, if he lost a Shadow Game, a Spirit Gate would have happened. But there has been no new activity." Sheppard said.

"But still, I have a feeling that the Shadow Riders have something to do with all of this. But what? That's what we gotta find out." Jaden said as the others exchanged looks.

After that, everyone split up.

Dai was riding on Raidramon as he ran through the woods, checking to see if they had missed something.

So far, they hadn't found anything at all and the child of Miracles was getting aggravated at this.

"You should really go back and rest. We don't need your leg to get any worse." The dragon said as he began to slow down in a clearing.

"I know, but we need to keep looking. I'm getting a bad feeling and just sitting around doing nothing is driving me insane." Dai said as Raidramon walked out of the forest and was at the Slifer dorm.

Renamon was standing outside of the dorm, looking annoyed, so the dragon walked over to her.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Jaden, Syrus, Chumley and Chazz are searching for clues to where Banner disappeared too. They found a note and Chazz, the imbecile, thought there was a code in the note to tell who the seventh Shadow Rider is. He came to the conclusion that it is Miss Dorothy." The fox said.

"Is he out of his freaking mind?" Dai asked sweat dropping.

After a while, the three waited until the group walked out of the dorm and followed them to see where they were going.

"So, Chazz, other than following you, what's the plan here?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, how do we find Banner when we make it to the alchemy mark?" Chumley asked.

"Easy. We find his cat Pharaoh and with this." Chazz said as he pulled out a cat toy.

"Haven't you tried this before?" Jaden asked as the other two boys groaned.

"Oh, I have an idea." Syrus said raising his hand.

"Do you? Well, what is it then?" the Raven Slifer asked as the bluenette walked over to him with a smile.

"Well, Chazz, since calling out for Pharaoh hasn't worked, let's go a different route." Syrus said.

"What route is that?" Chazz asked as Syrus dug in his pockets for something.

"So how long are you guys gonna hide?" the child of Darkness asked surprising everyone.

Raidramon walked out of the shadows while Renamon jumped out of the tree tops.

"Let me guess, you picked up my signal on the D-3?" Dai asked.

"Pretty much." Jaden said.

"At least we have more help." Chumley said.

Syrus then pulled out a marker and started drawing on Chazz's face, making the duo of Miracle bit their lips to not laugh.

"There, perfect. Now Pharaoh will think you're a cat." Syrus said.

"Of course, you'll have to develop a convincing meow. Try one." He said as Chazz shook in rage.

"How about I show you my claws instead?!" the Raven Slifer yelled as everyone laughed.

"You'd better run!" Chazz yelled as he chased after the three boys, Raidramon and Renamon following after them at a steady pace.

"Meow!" Syrus giggled.

"Here kitty, kitty!" Chumley teased.

After Chazz washed off his face, they went back to looking for the Slifer teacher.

"Banner, you here?" Chazz called.

"Professor! Hello?" Jaden called when Syrus gave a whimpering whine.

"Jaden! Dai! Snake! We saw a snake!" he cried as he and Chumley ran out of the bushes.

"So, whoop dee doo." Chazz said.

"We are in a forest, you guys. You know nature?" Jaden said.

"But this one wasn't very natural!" Chumley whined.

All of a sudden, a bunch of snakes fell down from the tree tops, making everyone cry out as Raidramon started sending his Thunder Blast at them and Renamon used her Diamond Storm.

"I hate snakes!" the fox snarled.

"That was weird." Jaden whimpered.

"Let's get out of here now." Dai said as her dragon started walking, Syrus and Chumley pulling themselves up onto Raidramon since they were too afraid to go on foot.

Renamon then digivolved to Kyuubimon to carry her partner and the black haired boy.

Night time soon fell, so they made a fire to rest around.

"This area of the forest sure is weird." Syrus said.

"Yeah, flying snakes?" Jaden asked.

Everyone then groaned, miserable that they hadn't found a single clue as to where Banner had been.

"We'll find Banner soon. I'm sure." Syrus said smiling at the Slifer King.

"I hope, because I really miss him, you know? All the little things he did. Now that's a friend. Don't cha think?" Jaden said with a soft smile.

Dai returned it as she held her cousin's hand, both taking comfort at the touch.

"Well, he was always nice to you, Sy, right?" Chumley asked.

"I suppose." Syrus said.

"OK, so he acted a bit weird sometimes." Chumley said as everyone had their own memories of the man they were talking about.

"Weird? I'll tell you what's weird. He sure was shifty sometimes." Chazz said with a fist clenched.

"It's true. Like when he tried to teach me how to swim? I just ended up spearing fish for his dinner." Syrus whined.

"Yeah, I guess he kinda had two sides to him, but that doesn't make him a bad person." Jaden said.

"You're right." Syrus smiled.

"Yeah, guess that's why we're looking for him." Chazz said with a smug grin.

"Yep and we should probably get back to it, right guys?" Syrus asked.

"Seriously, break time's over. Let's go…" Chazz said standing.

"And find Banner." Everyone said.

The sound of yowling caught their attention.

"Pharaoh?" Jaden asked.

"It came from over here." Chumley said.

The group then started their search for the cat, making sure they were careful to not miss anything in the darkness of the night.

"Pharaoh!" Jaden called.

"Here kitty!" Syrus called.

"Come here cat." Chumley called.

"Pharaoh!" Chazz called.

"Come on, kitty!" Dai called.

The sound of the cat yowling came again.

"He's close. Quick, guys, let's spread out. This could be our only chance." Chazz said.

"Right." Jaden nodded.

"Let's go." Syrus said.

Everyone then split up, Raidramon taking off at great speed, searching for the feline, but couldn't seem to find him.

After a while, the duo made it to a lake where they found Chazz dueling a Shadow Rider and the Raven Slifer only had 800 Life Points left.

When Chazz seemed to be getting the upper hand, the Rider called out an attack, silently, that had these comets that rained down on the Raven Slifer and he lost the duel.

"CHAZZ!" Dai cried out.

He then fell back on the water, so Dai jumped off of Raidramon and ran over to catch him, finding it a bit odd that she was standing on the surface of the lake.

"Dai, get out of there!" Raidramon called.

A mark that they had been shown in class that day appeared on Chazz as his Spirit Key faded away.

Then the black haired male disappeared right in Dai's arms, the Ojamas crying over their lost.

"No." Dai said sadly as the three brothers cried on her lap.

The Rider regarded her with emotionless eyes as his face was hidden behind his cloak, then he turned and left, not caring that he had angered the wrong person who was currently glaring holes in his back.

"You better run, because when I find you, I'll make you pay!" Dai yelled angered as he was gone.

Looking down at the Ojamas, she rubbed each of their heads, trying to comfort them as a flash of blue light made it known that Raidramon had returned to his Rookie form.

V-Mon then walked out onto the lake, gathering up Chazz's cards that were left floating in the water his ears drooping at their loss of their friend.

Sure, he was a jerk, but he was still a very important person in their lives.

He didn't deserve what they had just witnessed happen to him, no one did in fact.

"Dai!" someone called.

Jaden and the others had arrived with Pharaoh in Chumley's arms.

"What happened?" Kyuubimon asked.

Before the question could be answered, the ground began to shake violently, making everyone look around in fear and worry.

Rainbow pillars of light began to shoot up out of the water and into the sky, there were six of them.

"What was that?" Syrus asked.

"Don't know, but definitely not a good thing." Jaden said.

To be continued…


	43. The Mark of Abnael: Banner's Secret

"What's going on around here?" Chumley asked as the four Slifers and two digimon looked around at the pillars of light.

"Yeah, those six laser beams of light shot out from nowhere." Syrus said.

"Uh oh. You know what? I don't think they shot out from nowhere. I think they shot out from the Spirit Gate. Six of them must be unlocked now. Question is; how are they unlocked?" Jaden asked.

"_I'll tell you how."_ Ojama Yellow said as Daisuke walked over with the three brothers on her shoulders, Yellow being on her head and V-Mon next to his partner.

"_That seventh Shadow Rider is vicious!"_ Yellow cried as he and his brothers went back into their cards.

"You mean he took them all down? Chazz, Alexis and Banner? Then that would mean that-"Jaden trailed off.

"That everyone lost but Jaden and Dai. They have the last two keys." Syrus said.

"Oh, man. This seventh Shadow Rider must be really good." Chumley said holding Pharaoh closely to himself.

"No joke. Let's get out of here. This guy has got to be looking for you so he can unlock the final two Spirit Gates. You have to hide immediately before you end up like all the rest." The bluenette said.

"You obviously don't know us too well." Dai said.

"We're not gonna hide, Sy." Jaden said.

"You what?" Syrus asked worried.

"Look, our friends need our help and we're gonna give it to them. We have no choice." The child of Darkness said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Syrus said knowing he was fighting a losing battle.

"Besides, we don't have to worry about this Shadow Rider guy finding us." Jaden said.

"Because we're going to him." Dai said.

"Uh, when you say 'we' do ya…" Chumley trailed off.

"You better believe I do. After all, it all comes down to this. Everything we've been working for. And I want you guys to be there when I beat this guy and we save the world." Jaden said determined.

"You beat him?" Renamon asked.

"I've saved the world way too many times. I'll let him take the glory for this one." Dai said as she shared a smile with her cousin.

Lightning then shot down from the sky, hitting a tree that broke and started falling to where the students were, but they all jumped out of the way as it fell into the lake.

"Uh, timber?" Jaden said.

"That was way close." Syrus said.

"No kidding." V-Mon said.

The trunk that was in the ground started crackling as the mark Dai had seen on Chazz before he disappeared was glowing an eerie green color.

"Hey, look." Jaden said.

"The mark of Abnael." Chumley said.

"That thing was used by the seventh Shadow Rider to make Chazz disappear. He must have used them on the others too." The child of Miracles said.

The mark then started moving off into the forest, like it was leading them off somewhere.

"It's like…it's trying to lead us someplace." Syrus said.

"Not lischious." Chumley said.

"Finding this guy will be easier than I thought. Come on, let's go." Jaden said.

The group all followed the mark, Renamon helping Dai walk off since her leg was throbbing from the running and pressure she had put on it before when she ran to Chazz.

The mark finally stopped at the abandoned dorm.

They all walked inside, looking around for any sign of the Shadow Rider or their friends.

"Should've known. The abandoned dorm was where all of this started. Makes sense it would end here. Anyway, come on guys, let's keep a-moving." Jaden said.

Lightning then flashed near then outside the broken window they were near, the thunder crashing along with it making Pharaoh yowl as he jumped out of Chumley's arms and ran off.

"Pharaoh!" the boy called as the cat went down the hall, going down a staircase.

"Oh, great." Syrus said.

"Well, we better go get him." Jaden said.

They all then walked to the stairs and saw that the floor below them was old and cracking away in the walls as the old furniture was covered by white covers.

"This is so not cool." Chumley said as they went down what looked like a cavern.

"Look, a passage way and Pharaoh's paw prints." He said.

"Well, we can't fit through that. Guess we'll have to turn around." Syrus said.

"Will you quit being a scaredy cat?" Dai asked.

"We're going, now start moving." She said.

Renamon walked forward with the girl, helping her in while V-Mon followed, then the boys followed them into the hole.

After a short while, they found another passage.

"Whoa, that's weird. This door's never been here before." Jaden said.

"So let's ignore it." Syrus said as he and Chumley had nervous smiles and hid a bit behind the duos of Darkness and Miracles.

"Sounds good to me." Chumley said.

The two were ignored as the cousins and digimon walked through the door that had the door broken off and leaning against the side of the all.

Once inside, they found a room that had strange red and blue markings on the ground.

"This place looks like some lab from a horror movie." Jaden said.

"So where's the mad scientist hiding?" Chumley asked.

"Not sure, you know, but if it's where my guts are telling me it might be, I'm gonna need a change of shorts." Syrus said as he shook and everyone turned to see that he was looking at a coffin that was leaning up against the side of a wall.

"A coffin!" Jaden gasped.

"Or a trader's box." Chumley said.

"Yeah, that's it." Syrus said.

"If it's a freaking vampire, I'm gonna lose it. I've reached my limit with them." Dai said making V-Mon chuckle.

Jaden shook his head in amusement at that, but then grew serious as he walked over to inspect the coffin.

"Hey, wait, Jaden!" Chumley called.

"Stay back!" Syrus said.

"Chumley, come give me a hand here." Jaden said.

"Uh, sorry, Jay. I'm only good at opening pickle jars and potato chips." Chumley said rubbing the back of his head.

"And I'm not qualified. Let's let it be." Syrus said.

"I bet he'd be qualified if this thing were filled with grilled cheese, but no matter." Jaden shrugged.

Dai sighed as she pulled away from Renamon and walked over to her cousin and helped him push the cover of the coffin off as the others walked over to shed some light to see what was hiding inside.

"Huh, it's a mummy." V-Mon said making the two other Slifers hugging each other in fear.

"But what's it doing here?" Jaden asked.

"More like what're we doing here?" Syrus pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm with Sy on that one." Chumley said.

"Hey, wait a sec. give me your flash light." Jaden said nervously.

His cousin bit her lip nervously as she took a closer look at the mummy and saw that his clothing looked familiar and it also had long black hair.

"Why? What's wrong?" Syrus asked as the light was shone on the mummy.

"What's wrong is this mummy looks familiar. There's only one way to be sure." Jaden said as he reached for the coat to move it away from the name tag that was on it's shirt.

The name tag was revealed…it was the one they were searching for the past few weeks.

Lyman Banner.

"It is him. Professor." Jaden said.

"What do you mean?" Syrus asked confused.

"This is…or was Professor Banner." Jaden said making the two boys gasp.

"Wait, he's the mummy?" Syrus asked as they got closer.

"No way. Professor Banner couldn't have mummified this fast. I can't even make beef jerky in the time he's been missing." Chumley said.

"So then you think it's a fake?" Renamon asked.

"Of course. That it. it's a fake. Probably made out of wax or something, right?" Syrus asked.

"Wrong." a deep echoing voice exclaimed as the lights were turned on.

"Oh, this is bad." V-Mon said as they all turned.

"That is the body of the one you know as Professor Banner." The voice spoke again.

Oddly enough, he was nowhere to be seen and had the same accent as Banner.

"What the-? Who is that?" Jaden asked.

The evil laughter came making Dai cringe in annoyance as a man stepped forward to greet his visitors.

"The seventh Shadow Rider." He said.

Dai and V-Mon gasped when they saw who the man was, then glared at him as Ojama Yellow appeared frightened by the man.

"The one there. He's the one that took down Chazz. He's really good, but you gotta beat him to bring Chazz back. You gotta." He said as he coward behind Jaden.

"It's true, Jaden. To get any of your friends back, you'll have to beat me. Anael." The seventh Shadow Rider said.

"So you're Abnael as in the 'mark of Abnael' Abnael?" the Slifer King asked.

"That's right. And I have your friends right here." Abnael said pulling the book out of his cloak.

"And if you cannot defeat me, you'll be joining them. All of you." He said.

"But what about Professor Banner? How do I get him back or is it too late?" Jaden asked.

"It was always too late. It's best to forget the one you know as Banner. He is no more." Abnael said confusing everyone.

"What is that supposed to mean? Just what did you do to him?" the Slifer Queen asked as she blinked her chocolate eyes.

"To understand everything, you must do just one thing and that is; duel and defeat me, Jaden. Only then will the truth be revealed. Only then will this tome and the secrets it holds be unlocked. Accept this challenge. Will you face me?" Abnael asked.

"No, I don't think so." Chumley said.

"Uh, he's talking to Jaden, Chumley." Syrus said.

"Of course I'll face you." Jaden said.

"Get him and don't hold anything back." Dai said pumping a fist.

"Do your best." Renamon said.

The duel then started the battle that would determine the fate of the world on the line.

Oddly enough, Abnael had cards that gave him an advantage against the Elemental Heroes.

He also wielded an alchemy deck.

Things were getting very bad for Jaden when he was attacked by three monsters all at once on one turn, but thankfully he was able to cancel out the last monster's attack so he didn't lose.

Sadly, Abnael's Elemental Absorber kept canceling out the attacks of Jaden's Heroes, but he found a way around it to do some damage to the freak.

Pharaoh then arrived and swiped at Syrus as he picked him up, then ran off to where Abnael was and purred as he rubbed against the man's leg.

It confused everyone, but they were then shocked as the man removed his mask to show that he was a white haired version of Banner.

Dai was bubbling over in rage at the betrayal and was about to attack the man if Duskmon hadn't talked to her, calming her down.

Banner then told them how he was once a young duellist with amazing potential and searched the world for powerful cards to make him the greatest.

One day he found a lost tomb in the desert and found the first duel cards.

The tomb was also cursed.

The magic infected his body, so he had to create a new one and he used alchemy to make a homunculus and placed his soul inside of it.

The story made Dai think of 'Full Metal Alchemist' and Orochimaru from 'Naruto'.

Banner then said that his new body was only temporary and was fading out quickly, this being proven when the side of his face cracked a bit.

To live he needed the power of the Three Sacred Beasts and that was why he created the Shadow Riders.

The duel then continued, Banner and Jaden both giving it their all, Elemental Absorber finally being destroyed.

Banner then brought them all to a place that looked like space where the duel was continued.

There were also planets around them that had Chazz, Alexis and Atticus imprisoned in them, the Raven Slifer being the only one awake as he tried to get out.

The evil freak then told Jaden that all of the duels he had so far were fixed so he would be given a Spirit Key and be beaten by Banner himself to throw the child of Darkness off, but Dai yelled at the man for lying, knowing it wasn't true at all.

During the duel, the child of Miracles was cursing quit colorfully at the homunculus, making Syrus and Chumley stare at her in shock at the language she used.

She really did take after her mother.

When all hope seemed lost, Jaden regained his faith and played Hero Miracle which allowed him to fuse all of the Heroes in his Graveyard to create Elemental Hero Electro and finally defeated Banner, sending them back to the lab in the abandoned dorm.

The ground then started to shake as the Spirit Gates closed and those who were trapped in the book were released.

"That's game, Banner." Jaden said as he walked over to the fallen man.

"Jaden, listen carefully to me, my boy. I lied. You won all those other duels. I said you didn't…to test you and to…prepare you for the real evil to come. That is why I became a Shadow Rider. Not to take over the world, but to stop… the one that's truly trying to. To stop him, by forcing you to become a better duellist, Jaden. So that you could face him. And hopefully defeat him. You see…the threat is so grave I had to deceive you. I hope…that you can…forgive me. And now, my boy, take this." Banner said with a weak smile as he handed the tome to Jaden.

"But this book…" Jaden trailed off.

"It's mine no longer." Banner said as the Slifer King took it.

"And no longer am I of this wooooorld." He said as he turned into dust before their eyes.

"Professor Banner!" Jaden cried out.

The mummy in the coffin also turned to dust.

"It's over. He's gone." Jaden said as Pharaoh walked over to the dust, mewling in distress and sadness at his Master's death.

A small orb then floated up, making the cat bat at it and chased after it.

"So what now?" Syrus asked.

"Well, from what Banner said, I think we should be on the lookout for some terrible evil that wants to take over the world and he could destroy us all while we're at it." Chumley said.

"OK, but when aren't we really?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, you got a point there, Syrus." Chumley said.

"No, this is different." Jaden said as the orb floated up to him.

"You guys, Banner gave his life to warn us of this evil that's coming." He said as the orb floated down and Pharaoh swallowed it.

"Great, the fun continues. I'm never gonna make it to my twenties." Dai groaned.

To be continued…


	44. Chazz-anova

After the Spirit Gates were closed, the Slifer Quartet returned the Spirit Keys to Sheppard and were hailed as heroes by everyone at the school, even the digimon were treated as such.

As they walked down the path to enter the school building, the Obelisks, Ras and Slifers were all cheering for Jaden, Chumley, Syrus, Dai, V-Mon and Renamon as they walked, the cousins blushing bashfully.

"Yeah, Jaden!"

"Yay, Daisuke!"

"Way to stick it to those Shadow Riders!"

"Well, thank you. I'll be signing autographs for you later." Jaden said as he waved to the crowd.

"Wow, look at this, Chumley. Everyone thinks we're heroes." Syrus marveled.

"I don't know about you, but I prefer a hero sandwich." Chumley said.

"Oh, we'll get something to eat soon." Dai said.

"Jaden!"

"Dai!"

The cousins stopped when their names were called and they saw some old friends/rivals of their running up to them with smiles.

"Hey, Damon and Demitri." Jaden smiled.

"Harrington, Beauregard and Briar. It's been a while." Dai said to them.

"No kidding." The short green haired Ra said.

"Who would've thought you two would go off saving the world?" the long haired Obelisk said as he gave a bright toothy grin.

"You guys are just too awesome!" Ra with black hair frosted with orange gushed with starry eyes as he looked at the Slifer King and Queen.

"Yeah, no kidding." The dark haired Obelisk said.

"You guys risked yourselves to save us all. Thank you." The largest Ra said with a bow of respect.

The cousins were blushing deeply at the way they were being treated and it was all because of them being themselves, not because of their parents.

V-Mon snickered while Renamon chuckled in amusement.

After a while, Dai separated from the boys and was relaxing on her surfboard in the water, catching a glimpse of Atticus talking to Chazz on the beach, but she didn't eaves drop on them.

"_What's wrong, suga? Ya look kinda down." _Ranamon said as she floated by her Master.

"It's just what Banner said about a bigger, badder evil coming. We don't know when it's gonna strike or how we can be prepared for it. Man, why do I have to go through this all the time?" Dai sighed as she turned over onto her front.

"_Don't worry about it. You took care of troubles before and I know you'll pull it off this time too."_ Kazemon smiled as she hovered over the girl.

The Slifer Queen started heading out for a wave, deciding to enjoy the surf while the sun was still out since it would be setting in an hour, the sky already turning pink and purple as the moon was hiding off in the distance.

(The next day…)

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE KEYS WERE STOLEN AGAIN?!"

It was still early in the morning, so the students and teachers who were still under the Sandman's sleeping spell were woken up in shock at the sound of a female voice shrieking loudly.

Sheppard had called the teenage Key Keepers and told them that they were missing and there was a note that stated where you could find them.

Odd fact though, Chazz wasn't with them.

They made it to the beach to see that it was the Raven Slifer who was wearing the keys around his neck, everyone surprised about this.

"Chazz has the keys!" Syrus gasped.

"Uh, Chazz, what up?" Jaden asked confused while Kyuubimon, XV-Mon and Dinohyumon growled at Chazz.

"Joke's over. Give us the keys, Chazz." Alexis said.

"Not yet." He said.

"Uh, well, when then?" the blonde asked.

"When you…and I duel. So let's go, Alexis." He said stiffly and seemed a bit nervous about something.

"Huh?" she asked.

"What? Why do you wanna duel her?" Jaden asked.

"Because…I'm in love! Got it? and Alexis is too. She just doesn't know it now. And soon she will." Chazz said.

Dai was trying to decide whether or not she should beat him to death or hug him for being brave enough to confess his love from how much he looked like a scared little puppy from his nervousness of confessing and of being rejected.

"How's that?" Jaden, Chumley, Syrus, Dinohyumon and XV-Mon asked.

"Honestly, why do you think that?" Alexis frowned at him.

"Because I told him so." A familiar voice said.

Atticus then was seen on a banana boat wearing a red Hawaiian shirt and brown shorts as he strummed a ukulele with a smile.

"How would you know?" Zane asked as everyone looked at the brunette.

"Cause I know her and dear little sis needs a helping hand with her love life. Come on, he stole the Spirit Keys just for you." Atticus said.

"And that's romance? News to me." Syrus asked.

"Not really." Dai said as she leaned up on her dragon's shoulder.

"I second that." Jaden said.

"Anyone up for just tackling him?" Zane asked as he covered his face at how his best friend was acting.

"Not a bad thought." Jaden said.

"It's very tempting." Kyuubimon mused.

"What's the hold up?" Chazz called.

He and the Obelisk Queen then had a stare down until Alexis finally gave in.

"Come on!" Atticus called.

"Fine, I'll duel. Whatever." Alexis scoffed looking annoyed while the guys were all surprised.

Chazz and Atticus both cheered at that, Dai sliding down her dragon's back and Bastion gave her a hand up since she still had a bad leg from all of the pressure she was putting on it.

Thank goodness she would just have a really bad burn scar from the bottom of her knee to a foot down her leg, but the mark also seemed to flare a bit at the sides of her calf.

"You got her now, Chazz!" Atticus called.

"Just one thing; even if I lose this, the keys go back." Alexis said all serious.

"All right, but then I get something to take their place. You as a girlfriend, and then we can hold hands and take walks. Write notes. That's the deal." Chazz said excitedly as the group all sweat dropped at this.

"Fine, that's the deal, but it's not gonna happen." Alexis growled as she readied her duel disk and deck.

"Now let's do this, Chazz." She said.

"I will and I'll show you…that you love me." Chazz said as he also readied himself as Atticus joined them, only to get whacked over the head by Dai.

"Ouch! What was that for, little dragon?" he asked.

"For being stupid enough to convince Chazz to do something like this." She scolded him with her hands on her hips.

"What's so wrong with helping two people fall in love?" Atticus asked with a radiant smile.

"If it's meant to be, then it'll happen. You shouldn't try to force them to fall in love. This isn't fair for them, especially Chazz with what you're putting in his head." Dai said.

"Do you think anything she's saying will get through to him?" Bastion asked.

"We can only hope." Zane sighed.

The duel then started off, but Chazz seemed to have gained some new cards in his deck that dealt with romance and love, Atticus encouraging all the way while Dai kept yelling at her older brother figure for being an idiot.

Chazz seemed to be getting a bit desperate with how things were going because he was somehow convinced that Alexis and he were meant to be together.

The Slifer Queen bit her lip as she then thought back to something that had happened in her past when she was 10.

_It was after soccer practise that I was heading for home when I saw something that sent a wave of shock and anger through me._

_It was Ken Ichijouji, the one who we had just found out was in fact the Digimon Emperor._

_He was smirking at me as he walked over, every step showing his confidence and he was dressed to impress as his hair was brushed without a single strand out of place and his school uniform didn't have any wrinkles at all._

"_Hello, Daisuke." He greeted coolly._

"_What do ya want, Ken?" I spat out as he stopped a few feet away from me._

"_Now, now. Try to keep calm. I just came to discuss something of great importance with you." He said with those cold blue eyes filled with a strange feeling._

"_And what if I don't wanna talk?" I challenged wanting to get away from him._

_Sadly, I had left Chibimon at home with my mom to look after him since she really loved the cute little guy._

"_If you don't, then I'll destroy Primary Village." He threatened._

_I bit my lip at that._

_He had caught me._

_Sighing, I let him lead me to the back of the school, both of us not saying anything as we walked._

_About five minutes later though, he grabbed my hands and pinned me to the wall, making me gasp in shock at the sudden action, but I should have seen this coming._

_Ken smirked down at me as he leaned his face down._

"_Let's get right to it. Soon I'll have the Digital World free to use at my disposal. You're so called little friends are all pitiful, but you…I admire how you never seem to be willing to give up. Why waste your talents with the Digi-losers? You could do so much better." He said._

"_Is there a point to this? You're boring me." I said trying to not show how nervous I felt with having him this close to me._

"_What I'm saying is; I want you to join me. Come be my Queen." He said._

_My eyes widened at that in shock._

_Was he serious?_

_He then bent his head down, going for my lips as I felt my body just shut down from the shock of it all._

_Suddenly, Ken was pulled off of me and was pushed onto the ground by someone I didn't know._

_He had teal hair that was spiked up in the back and had lightly tanned skin and was dressed in a black t-shirt with jeans and brown boots._

_The feeling returned to my body as I looked at Ken as he glared icy daggers at my rescuer._

"_Now, that's no way ta treat a lady. Ya should show 'er more respect." The boy said with a cute Southern accent._

"_Why don't you go back to the rodeo, punk? This is a personal matter." Ken said as he stood up and brushed the dirt off of his uniform._

"_No it's not. My answer is no." I said stepping up beside the teal haired boy._

"_You'll regret turning me down." Ken warned as he turned on his heel and walked off._

_Once he was gone, I relaxed and turned to look at my rescuer's face, meeting two pretty jade eyes as he smiled cutely at me._

"_Thanks for the help." I said with a grin._

"_No need for that. I was happy ta help ya out. My dad made sure I was brought up right when it came ta treating ladies." He said._

_Weird enough, I felt my face heating up from the smile he was giving me._

_What was up with that?_

_I liked Taichi-sempai, didn't I?_

_There's no way some country cutie can just stroll in acting all gentlemanly and make me fall for him, right?_

_That's crazy!_

"_Still, thanks again." I said unsure of what else to say._

_He chuckled as he turned and left with a wave thrown over his shoulder._

"_Sorry, but I gotta get moving' now. Hope ta see ya 'round some time, puppy." He said._

_I was left there confused about where that nickname had come from and about who he was._

_I had never told anyone about that day at all and when Ken became my friend, we decided to leave what he did in the past, even though he felt terrible about it and I had to hit him with a pillow until he stopped brooding._

_But still, I wonder who that guy was anyway?_

Dai shook her head to get back to the duel.

Alexis had won and Chazz fell to his knees in defeat at losing the duel and not being able to win the Obelisk Queen's heart.

"She beat me. My darling beat me. So much for true love. Which is fine." Chazz said as he stood back up.

"Cause the Chazz always rides alone!" he said thrusting his pointer finger in the air as the waves crashed behind him.

He then fell to his knees and started crying as Alexis started walking over and Atticus ran to his sister while Dai sat down beside the Raven Slifer and pat his back, sending out waves of comfort from her digi egg of Friendship.

Everyone deserves to have a friend to help them get over their heartbreak.

"Alexis, at least you can let him down gently." Atticus whined as he too was crying.

"Still be friends?" Alexis asked with a smile as she looked down at the black haired boy.

Before there was an answer, the volcano started smoking as the ground shook, everyone staying completely still as they waited the ride out.

"What Banner warned us about. It's here." Jaden said.

"Great, this sucks." Dai groaned as she pulled her knees up to her chest and waited for the doom to come.

To be continued…


	45. The Sacred Beasts cards: Revealed

Everyone stayed still on the beach as the wind blew by, waiting to see what would happen.

"What's going on?" Jaden asked.

A neon green light shot up into the sky, then quickly faded out as the island shook again.

Stone pillars then rose up out of the forest, everyone standing as they watched this.

"What Banner warned us about. It's here." Jaden said.

"Can it show itself then? All this suspense is getting on my nerves." Dai said with a frown on her face.

The Spirit Keys around Chazz's neck started lifting up and glowing next.

"The Spirit Keys. Something's happening to them." Chazz said.

They lifted up and then dragged him off somewhere.

"Where are you going, Chazz?" Alexis asked.

"I don't know!" he called as the keys led the way.

"Hey, can we come?" Jaden asked as the Raven Slifer was pulled into the forest.

"HELP ME!" he called.

Everyone then chased after Chazz into the forest, the digimon close by them.

After a while, the keys started to lift up into the air.

"Just hold on!" Jaden called.

"What do you think I'm-"Chazz was cut off as he was rammed into a tree branch.

The cords to the keys were broken as Chazz fell back, XV-Mon swooping over and catching the boy in his arms as Dai was on the dragon's shoulder.

The group all looked up into the air as the keys glowed and became orange orbs as they started moving around in the air.

"The keys. They're being absorbed into the pillars." Zane said as they watched this happen.

The humans and digimon walked out into the clearing where the pillars had sprouted from, looking around to see what had caused it.

"Not lichoius." Chumley said.

"They're opening up all of the Spirit Gates!" Kyuubimon gasped.

"What did you do, Chazz?" Alexis accused.

"It's not my fault!" he yelled as everyone gave him looks of disbelief as XV-Mon dropped him onto the ground.

The pillars then started glowing as Sheppard and Crowler ran over to them.

"Children!" the old man called.

"What's happening?" Crowler asked.

"Doomsday. What do ya think?" Dai snipped.

"I'm sure this is your fault, Jaden." The blonde man said.

"Hey, wait. I didn't steal those keys." The Slifer King said.

"It was Chazz!" the students and digimon all said as they pointed accusing fingers at the nervous black haired boy.

"Heh. I was just borrowing the keys for Alexis." He said with a nervous grin.

"Don't dare drag me into this mess." The Obelisk Queen frowned.

The ground started to shake again as the middle of the pillars there was a sandpit that was swirling around up into the air.

"Now what?" Jaden asked.

A stone table rose and it opened up to reveal a metal box that glowed and three cards were shown in the middle of the orb.

"It's the…" Jaden gasped.

"Sacred Beast cards." Chazz finished.

The two boys plus Bastion, Alexis and Dai were about to go over to collect them.

"Those cards do not belong to you." A deep male voice said.

They all looked up to see a helicopter was flying down to them.

"What is that?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, ask me. Like I'm going to know?" Chazz retorted.

The cargo plane's back door opened up and let a large metal crate fall out and it fell towards the group.

As it landed, it appeared to be some sort of spider robot with a glass container that had a man inside hooked up to wires.

"The cards belong to me." He said.

"Wait a moment. I know that man." Sheppard said.

"I'm so glad you recognize me, Sheppard. Even though the years have not been kind." The man said, an Eye of Horus ring on his finger.

"It's Kagemaru our superintendent!" Sheppard yelled.

"I knew teachers were evil!" Dai said.

"Superintendent?" Jaden asked.

"I built this school and now I've returned for my Sacred Beasts cards." Kagemaru said.

"Wait just a sec there, test tube." Jaden said.

"You want ,em? You gotta get through us. That's how this works." Chazz said.

"Fools, I am Kagemaru. Master of the Shadow Games. It was I who first sealed the cards here. It was I who gave Sheppard the eight keys." The old man said.

"Sheppard?" a stunned Crowler asked as the Chancellor glared.

"All though they are worthless, to unlock the Spirit Gates all that is required is dueling energy. Energy you expend trying to protect those keys." Kagemaru said as he got closer.

"Ah, see? This isn't the Chazz's fault." Chazz said with a hand on his heart in relief.

"That's why I arranged for all the best duellists in the world to come here. I hoped year after year, class after class a student would arise with enough dueling spirit to unlock the power of the cards. My Shadow Riders were sent to test you and only two passed. Two with the potential to finally unlock the Sacred Beasts and give me the strength to rule the world!" Kagemaru said.

"Cute story. So why all the tricks? Were you too weak to get the cards for yourself?" Alexis asked.

"Alexis, don't make the scary man mad." Syrus said.

"He don't look so tough. More like some sort of reject science project." Chumley said.

"Listen up; there is no way you're getting those Beast cards. Not as long as I'm here, you got that, Kagemaru? You'll have to duel me for them." Zane said.

"Back off. It's my duel and I'll Chazz you up big time, so let's go." Chazz said.

"No way. He's all mine. After all, he and I are old friends. He transformed me into one of his Shadow Riders." Atticus said as he strummed his ukulele with a frown.

"No! My opponent will be…Judai Kaiba or Daisuke Muto." Kagemaru said.

"Excuse me, what?" Jaden asked.

"Why one of us?" Dai asked as Kagemaru laughed; while Crowler looked confused by the names they were called.

"You both have proven to be the only two duellists with the power to unlock the Sacred Beasts cards." The old man said.

The pillars then started crackling as electricity appeared between them and acted like a fence.

"And if either of you refuse, I will see to it that this island and everyone on it sinks to the depths of the ocean." The man said.

"You can't." Jaden said.

The robot opened up to show robotic arms, one of them holding a duel disk.

"I can do anything with these." Kagemaru said as he took the sacred Beasts cards.

"Good luck, now." Chazz said.

"Let this Shadow Game begin." Kagemaru said.

"Listen, Jaden, if you need any advice, don't ask." Chazz said as he turned and left.

"Where are you going?" the child of Darkness asked.

"To find a boat." Chazz said.

"Catch!" Syrus said.

He threw his backpack at Jaden, but it hit Chazz in the face first, then went into Jaden's arms.

"You still alive?" Dai asked.

"Feeling dandy. You better not lose. I just got my room looking cool." Chazz said from his place on his head.

"No sweat. I hope that you brought you're A game, Kagemaru." Jaden said as he pulled the duel disk out of the bag.

Banner's tome fell out as well.

He bent down when he saw a card sticking out of the tome and took it with a smile.

"Hey, Jaden, rock his world." Chumley called.

"Will do." Jaden said as he tossed the bag back.

Sadly, Chazz was standing up with his back turned to him at the exact same time and got hit in the head again.

"Sorry, Chazz. My bad." Jaden winced.

"That's it, I'm out of here." Chazz said.

"Come on, Chazz. I need you." Jaden said.

"You need a kick in the-"

"SILENCE!" Kagemaru yelled.

"Oh, you're the one who'll be shutting up you no good, ugly, old, shriveled up, senile son of a-"

Dai was cut off as Zane pulled her into his chest and covered her mouth.

"This is why I hate teenagers." The old man sighed.

The final duel to decide the fate of the world then started, everyone watching in anticipation and fear.

Most of the duel was filled with Dai shouting curses at Kagemaru, Agunimon appearing to help her with the insults while Lowemon and Duskmon appeared to keep the power of the Sacred Beasts away from the watchers of the duel.

Dai then started yelling at her friends when they started talking negatively about her cousin and cheered Jaden on in his battle, even Kyuubimon and XV-Mon were cheering for him.

They weren't giving up hope so soon into the game.

During the duel, the dueling spirits of everyone but Jaden's and Dai's decks were being drained away.

Kagemaru revealed that it was the cousins who had the strongest spirits to control the Sacred Beasts and use the children of Darkness and Miracles to rule the world.

He even used some of the power to rejuvenate himself back into a handsome, buff young man.

The power that was beginning to flow from Jaden and Dai made Kyuubimon and XV-Mon both digivolve into Taomon and Paildramon, shocking everyone from the sudden evolutions, but everyone was more shocked about the fact that XV-Mon became Paildramon without DNA digivolving with Stingmon.

Two Crest then appeared, one being dark purple with the Crest of Darkness on it while the other was gold with the Crest of Miracles on it.

They were both in Tags and went around their owners' necks.

Jaden then felt more confidence and power from the mere touch of his Crest and then came back into the duel, destroying one of the two Sacred Beasts that were out.

He then weakened the other Beast's ATK Pints to 0 and destroyed him too.

Sadly, Kagemaru destroyed one of Jaden's monsters in return and brought back two of his Beasts that he lost.

To add more insult to injury, he brought out his last Beast.

The three Beasts then drained the energy from all of the Duel Monsters in the world except for the two Digidestinds.

Suddenly, Pharaoh appeared with Banner's spirit and told him to use the card he left for Jaden.

Jaden used the card to create Shining Flare Wingman and went in for the attack, but using the special card took some of his Life Points away.

After more stress and attacks, Jaden used the special card to bring out Miracle Fusion to fuse all of the Elemental Heroes he had in his Graveyard to create Elemental Hero Electrum.

With that, the Sacred Beasts were defeated and Jaden won the duel, thus saving the world the lives of Duel Monsters all over the world.

The special card Jaden used then faded away just as he was tackled into a hug by Dai, both laughing s their Crests glowed in time with each other, their Ultimates standing behind them with smiles.

Just then, they noticed Kagemaru on the ground as he was covered in light, looking very weak.

"Are you-"Jaden asked.

The man yelled as he was transformed into the old man again.

"Dear me." Sheppard said.

"Wow, look at him." The others gasped.

"It's true. I'm an old man wanting simple what every old man wants. To be young again. And harnessing the power of those Sacred Beasts; that was the only way I found to do it." Kagemaru said.

"Yeah and to take over the world." Jaden said.

"And ruining the lives of countless innocents." Dai said.

"Your crimes are too immense." Taomon said.

"You're tainted filth." Paildramon said.

"Can't you forgive a decorative old soul?" Kagemaru begged as he grabbed at the cousins.

They both shared a look, then turned to their digimon.

As much trouble the old man caused, the two cousins had a hard time staying mad at anyone, especially after they got their anger out of their systems in a duel or by shouting it out.

"Yeah, I guess." Jaden said.

"Fine, but don't do it again." Dai said as the old man sagged in relief at the show of kindness from the two Slifers.

"Stealing power from someone isn't the way to feel alive again. You've got to find the strength in yourself." Jaden said.

"I can't. It's too late for that." Kagemaru said.

"It's never too late to say you're sorry." Paildramon said.

"He's right. There are always chances to search atonement for your sins." Taomon said.

"Come on, try and get up. Right now, just go for it. Give it your all." Jaden encouraged with a smile.

"Getting there. That's it." Dai said with a smile as Kagemaru pushed himself up, using the two as his support.

He slowly let go of them and stumbled a bit, the cousins keeping their arms out to catch him in case he fell, but Kagemaru righted himself.

"hey, look. I'm standing." He said with a pleased smile while the cousins returned it with a nod.

Taomon and Paildramon then reverted back into Vixiemon and Chibimon, both running up to their partners and sitting on their heads.

"It must have been our duel. Yes, that's it. All the excitement put the spring back in my step. Thank you!" Kagemaru cried as he hugged Jaden and Dai, all three laughing.

Later on, Jaden called in one of his family's medics to come take Kagemaru to a hospital to get him checked out after the duel was done.

"I guess bear hugs and old people don't mix." Jaden said.

"My great grandfather is older than that, but he isn't that weak." Dai pouted.

"Hey, you may have bruised a few of his ribs, but I bet his heart is all healed up." Atticus said.

"Some bruised ribs? He's luck that's all he got after all that he's put us through." Chazz scowled with his arms crossed.

"Later, Kagemaru!" Jaden called.

"Get well soon…I guess." Syrus called.

"It's over and it's going to stay over. From now on, the Sacred Beasts will be under my guard and mine alone." Sheppard said.

He placed the three cards back into their hiding place as the island returned to normal.

"Sure is going to be quiet around here now." Syrus said.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure. You see, next week are the Duel Academy promotion exams." Crowler smirked.

"PROMOTION EXAMS?!" Jaden and Dai yelled.

"Yes." The man said.

"I totally forgot." Jaden whined.

"But we just saved the world." Dai whined.

Pathetic." Chazz said.

"Saving the world is one thing, but making the grade?" Atticus smiled.

"Not really Jaden and Dai's cups of tea." Bastion smiled.

"That's true. Better get studying." Alexis nodded.

"THAT'S IT! I'll kill you people right here and now!" Dai snarled.

Alexis, Chazz, Bastion and Atticus all then started running away in fear as the overly stressed out child of Miracles ran after them, her leg fixed up perfectly from her Crest.

"By the way, why did Kagemaru called Slacker and his cousin Judai Kaiba and Daisuke Muto?" Crowler asked.

"You don't know?" Dinohyumon asked.

The man turned to the digimon with a confused look.

Zane then stepped up.

"Jaden's real name is Judai Jaden Kaiba and Dai is Daisuke Dayna Muto. Jaden is the son of Seto Kaiba and Serenity Wheeler while Dai is the daughter of Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler." The Kaiser said.

Crowler was silent as his face paled while Dai was still chasing after her friends, Chazz and Bastion already sporting a black eye each while Jaden was still wallowing in self misery as Vixiemon and Chibimon watched the chaos unfold.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE SLIFER SLACKERS ARE SETO KAIBA AND YUGI MTO'S CHILDREN?!" Crowler shouted.

Everyone then stopped what they were doing as they faced the stunned man, Dai sitting on top of Atticus as she had her fist pulled back to punch him and Alexis on the ground covered in dirt while Bastion and Chazz hid behind Dinohyumon.

"Well, yeah." Jaden said turning to the Obelisk dorm advisor.

"We all knew this months ago." Chazz said.

"We've even spoken to them." Sheppard said.

"So…all of this time…I've been trying to get the son of my boss kicked out of the academy?" Crowler asked.

"Ha! He confessed!" Dai exclaimed pointing at him as Zane walked over and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder and allowing Atticus to escape.

"A-And the King of Game's daughter is…her?" Crowler asked pointing a shaky finger at the Slifer Queen as she was being set down on her feet by the Kaiser.

Everyone was silent as they focused on Crowler.

The man then passed out.

"He took that rather well." Bastion said as he nursed his black eye.

The group then shrugged as they all trudged back to the dorms to rest up after a very eventful day.

The duellists all felt a new respect for Dai knowing she had survived battles to save the earth countless times and was still alive during it, even if her temper may have grown during this last one.

To be continued…


	46. The Crests

Jaden and Dai were taking a break back in the Kaiba mansion, their parents sitting around them as they stared at their Crests.

Vixiemon was sitting on Serenity's lap as the woman gently brushed her sunshine yellow fur and Chibimon was nibbling on a chocolate bar while he was on Joey's lap.

"So these Crests just appeared when your digimon reached their Ultimate forms?" Yugi asked as he gently lifted the Crest of Miracles up from his daughter's neck, checking over the beautiful gold that had the mark of Miracles written on it in a baby blue color.

"Yeah, it was weird. I don't know why it happened during the duel with Kagemaru though. I wasn't even duelling him." Dai said.

Seto was inspecting the Crest of Darkness that was a dark purple color that was even darker than that trench coat he used to wear when he was younger and it had the mark of Darkness written on the Crest in black.

"Did ya talk to Izzy about this?" Joey asked.

"No, we didn't tell him yet. We did get mail from Gennai that said he would be coming to tell us about this though." Jaden said.

"Gennai? When did he say he was coming?" Serenity asked.

"Right now, Mrs. Kaiba." A male voice said.

Yugi and Seto let go of the Crests and stood up in defensive stances in front of their wives and children.

There stood a man dressed in white robes with spiked brown hair and bright blue eyes smiling kindly at everyone.

"How dare you barge into my home like this? I could have you arrested for trespassing." Seto snarled.

"Dad, calm down." Jaden said.

"Gennai, you know you should really start using the door, right?" Dai asked as she stood up to go greet the man.

Yugi relaxed and smiled while Seto kept his usual scowl in place, which made his son elbow him in the side.

He turned his surprised sapphire eyes on his son, but was met but powerful chocolate orbs.

This was the first time Jaden had ever stood up to his father like this and the truth was…he was proud.

Seto gave a rare small grin and ruffled his son's bangs making the 15 years old smile as Serenity smiled happily at this, Vixiemon having a proud look on her face.

Her partner saved the world and mended the tense bond between himself and his father.

"Why do we have these Crests, Gennai and why did they come now?" Dai asked.

"Because, you made them appear." He said.

The 11 Warriors all faded into the room, intent on listening to this as well.

"You're the child of Miracles. By having faith in your cousin and believing in him to be strong and win the duel, you created the Crests and some new Crests that are being found by their new and old owners." Gennai said.

"I did that?" Dai asked as she looked at her Crest.

He nodded as he held out a small computer compact that opened up and showed off a hologram of some Digidestinds she knew receiving their very own Crests.

Tai, Matt, TK, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Kari, Joe and Ken all got back their own Crests while Yolei, Willis, Michael, Bastion and Cody got their own Crests.

Yolei had Harmony.

Willis had Faith.

Cody had Charity.

Bastion had Justice.

And finally, Michael had Strength.

"Look like we have something to explain to Bastion when we get back." Vixiemon said.

"Or ya could just bring him here. It would be nice to meet your new friends face to face." Joey said.

"Oh, what a wonderful idea." Serenity gushed.

Jaden laughed as Vixiemon hopped up onto his shoulder as he opened up his laptop that was on the coffee table.

"I'll go get him. Be back soon." He said with a wave to his family before he was enveloped in light and pulled back to Duel Academy Island.

"I'll go call the others and tell them what happened. Wish me luck; because Taichi-sempai and Yamato-sempai are gonna be maaaaaad." Dai said singing the last word as she turned and went to use the phone.

The parents watched her go, Seto turning back to the Guardian.

"Are our children going to be involved in anymore dangers like this again?" he asked.

Joey, Serenity and Yugi all paid attention to this as well.

Things were pretty bad this time because the danger was caused by a human and not a digimon.

The Mutos were used to their daughter being involved in dangers and saving the world constantly, but the Kaibas weren't so they had no idea where to stand at the moment or what to expect.

"I'm afraid even I don't know this. Azulongmon can't see anything about Judai and Daisuke's destiny. They are interlocked with their friends and darkness reigns supreme with them." Gennai sighed.

"What does that mean?" Yugi asked.

"I don't know. But it is a prophecy for those two. Darkness reigns supreme with the King and Knight." The Guardian explained.

"What kinda prophecy doesn't rhyme?" Joey asked.

"Oh, you are your daughter's mother." Gennai said with an amused grin.

The blonde woman gave the man a curious look just as Jaden and Vixiemon returned with Bastion and Kapurimon.

**(Later…)**

The Warriors were all gathered inside of Dai's mind room which reflected her inner self.

This place was filled with tall, strong pillars of gold and the walls were a light blue color and were decorated by pictures of the people she loved, which was all of her Warriors and nearly everyone she knew.

"_What do you think that prophecy meant?"_ Kazemon asked.

"_Who knows?"_ Ranamon said.

"_Darkness will reign supreme? This can't mean Lowemon and Duskmon, could it?"_ Lobomon asked.

"_Of course not. The prophecy speaks of the King and Knight, whomsoever they may be."_ Mercurymon said.

"_We'll figure something out."_ Arbormon said.

"_What other darkness there be?"_ Grumblemon asked.

"_Could they mean Jaden? He is the child of Darkness."_ Lowemon said.

"_But what about Dai? She's also a part of this. Does the prophecy mean that this King and Knight are coming after them?"_ Duskmon asked feeling worry for his Master.

She was very kind to him and offered him a chance without him even asking her to and he was expecting her to shun him away.

Dai sure did surprise him by giving him a chance and place in her heart.

"_Man, this is making my head hurt."_ Beetlemon groaned.

"_I don't like this."_ Kumamon whimpered.

Agunimon had kept silent during this all as he tried to piece things together, but they just weren't clear at all.

Why did prophecies have to be so annoying and difficult to understand?

Couldn't they just be simple?

"Whatever it is, we'll just have to keep an eye out for any dangers. We made a promise to watch after Dai and the people she loves. We're not breaking that." Agunimon said.

The others all nodded, agreeing with their leader.

Meanwhile, Joey was tucking Dai into her bed at her own home, Jaden being tucked in his own bed in the guest room as Bastion slept over in the other guest room after he was told about all of the Crests from Gennai.

Seto had called to the school to tell Sheppard where the three students were at the Muto home to sleep for the night and would be back at the school the next day.

Joey leaned down and brushed mahogany bangs off of a tanned forehead and leaned down to place a soft kiss on it.

"You're becoming a more beautiful person each day." The blonde woman smiled lovingly as she stood up and then left the room.

Yugi was waiting there for her, smiling as he wrapped his wife up in a hug.

"You're worried about her." He stated.

"She's been through too much." Joey sighed.

"She's a true warrior. She'll never give up until she gets what she wants and that's to make the world a safer place for the people she loves." Yugi said.

The couple then pulled away, but still held hands as they walked into their bedroom, wishing the three Digidestinds sweet dreams and good luck at their promotion exams.

Dai smiles in her sleep as she cuddles up with Chibimon, her Warriors all watching over her as she slept along with the Red Eyes Black Dragon, the Egyptian Gods, Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl and Baby Dragon.

Winged Kuriboh, the Elemental Heroes and the Blue Eyes White Dragons were watching over Jaden as he slept in his own bed with Vixiemon cuddled up to him.

Bastion was happy just sleeping in the home of the King of Games with Kapurimon sleeping on his chest, but was unaware that his own Duel Monsters were also watching over him as he slept.

To be continued…


	47. Passion: Chumley's win

After a nice rest at the Muto home, the children of Darkness, Justice and Miracles all returned home, but left the three digimon with Joey and Serenity to look after since the three looked worn out.

At the moment, the favored Slifer quartet were in the dorm room of the three males, studying for their exams before they went to class.

"Ah, I'm never gonna pass the promotion exam! I have test anxiety." Jaden whined.

"I say battling the Shadow Riders, winning those duels and saving the world should count as our exam." Dai said as she leaned against the wall as she lay out her cards, the one Ken gave her sticking out from behind Sakkakumon and Lowemon.

Should she use that in any of her duels?

"Watch this. I'm taking out your Clayman with Drillroid. You're wide open." Syrus smirked.

He and Jaden were digitally dueling each other on their PDAs, like a game to help them study.

"Wait a second!" Jaden said.

"And this card…I win!" Syrus cheered.

"I lost." Jaden slumped.

"Aw, I gotta learn to stay calm during these tests." He said.

"You should chill out like Chumley." Syrus said pointing to the koala boy as he slept in his top bunk.

"Sy, isn't he a bit too chill?" Jaden asked.

"He's fine, just tired. He was up all night long poor guy." Syrus explained stunning the cousins at the news.

"All night?" they asked.

"That sounds like a lot of studying, especially for Chumley." The Slifer King said.

"Jaden." Syrus quietly scolded.

"What?" Jaden asked.

"Chumley already failed this exam twice. If he doesn't pass them this year, he's out of here forever." Syrus said.

Dai looked up at the heavyset male as he seemed to stiffen at the bluenette's words.

And she though that she and Jaden had problems.

Poor Chumley has a lot riding on this.

**(Later…)**

The quartet were in their class working on art.

"Jaden, look at this. What do ya think? Is it good?" Syrus asked as he showed off his painting of Dark Magician Girl.

"Not bad, but check out my card design. It's a work of art, it's pure genius. It's Sparkman! See?" Jaden said.

The image looked like a different monster and it made Dai and Syrus sweat drop at the sight.

"Uh, if you say so. What did you make, Dai?" the bluenette asked.

"This is BurningGreymon." She said showing off an image of the Beast of Flame with red glowing eyes holding a small boy with green eyes, brown hair and a large orange hat on his head in his clawed hands.

"Wow, where did you get that idea?" Syrus asked.

"Don't know." Dai said with a shrug.

"So, what'd you do, Chumsters?" Jaden asked the boy that was sitting above them.

"Hmm? Uh…" Chumley trailed off.

The three Slifers stood up to check out the picture and the painting that Chumley had made took their breaths away.

It was a valley with the sun rising behind these rocky cliffs and it was so lifelike.

"Wow, that's great." Syrus gasped.

"Beautiful." Dai said in awe.

"Cool, so what is it?" Jaden asked.

Syrus and Dai face faulted at the question.

The mahogany haired girl really questioned how her cousin was older than her.

They were practically twins since they were born on the same day, Jaden being born three hours before her (which made Seto tease Joey about the fact that his child was born first) but it seemed like those three hours had nothing to do with brains.

"What is it? You've never seen ayers rock?" Syrus asked.

"A what now?" Dai asked with a blush of shame.

She thought Jaden meant what the drawing was, not where it was.

Oops, her mistake.

Those words coming from her mouth made Syrus slap his forehead.

"See, a long time ago I went camping with my dad in Australia and saw it." Chumley said with a smile as a group of students swarmed around to check out the painting.

"Great brush strokes." A Ra boy said.

"Cool texture." A Slifer boy said.

"Duh, I know. I'm gonna use it for my-"Chumley was cut off by the PA system.

"Uh hem. Attention, will Chumley Huffington please report to Chancellor Sheppard?" Crowler said as his face appeared on the large TV.

The Ra dorm advisor, who was the art teacher, looked over at the worried looking third year Slifer.

Chumley stood up and left the room, his three best friends watching him with concerned looks.

"Is he in trouble?" Syrus asked.

"Beats me." Jaden said.

The trio went off to spy on the meeting, Dai holding her ear up close to the doors so she could hear what was going on and was surprised to hear the voice of Maxmillion Pegasus.

It turns out that Pegasus had a contest for someone to design news cards for him and Chumley had entered and won.

He was offered a job at Industrial Illusions; Dai had to place her hand over her mouth so she didn't squeal in joy for her friend.

Sadly though, Crowler said that Chumley would have to beat him in a duel if he wanted to go work for Pegasus and it was agreed with by Sheppard.

Chumley then walked out of the office looking a bit glum, so the spying trio walked to him.

"What happened? Hey, they made one of your cards." Jaden smiled.

"Chumley, aw man, don't you know how awesome this is?" Syrus asked.

"But um…" Chumley said.

"But um what? Come on. You should be ecstatic. I mean, this is huge." Jaden said.

"Sure is. Congrats." Syrus said.

"I guess." Chumley sighed.

The group all then walked off to go back ot class, Dai and Chumley hanging back behind the two happy boys.

"Hey, I heard what happened." The child of Miracles whispered to the koala looking boy.

He looked surprised, but nodded as he looked down sadly.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do. I want this so badly." He said.

"Then use that. Keep using that passion you have and it'll help you." She said, her Crest giving off a faint glow that was unknown to the two.

"I hope you're right." Chumley sighed.

That night in the Slifer trio's room, Chumley woke up late in the night as a strange device appeared on his bed along with a light red pendant that had a mark of a circle with an upside down heart in it.

"What's…" Chumley trailed off quietly as his eyes widened when he realized what these things were.

They were a digivice and Crest.

He got out of bed and walked out of the room, going over to sit down on the cliff where he saw a man dressed in white robes.

"Who're you?" he asked in slight fright.

The man laughed gently as he took a light brown egg with blue stripes that was larger than a regular egg.

"I'm a friend of Judai and Daisuke's. you now have a digivice and Crest, Chumley Hayato Huffington. Do you know what this means?" he asked as he handed over the digi egg to him.

"I'm…a Digidestind?" Chumley asked in awe as he took the digi egg.

"Yes, you are. There are many more Digidestinds being called at this very moment, some being lucky enough to have their very own Crests like you. Remember, you were chosen for a reason. You're stronger and more special than you can ever imagine." The man said.

He then turned and walked away, fading off in a swarm of rainbow lights.

Chumley stared off in amazement, then turned his attention to his digi egg as it started moving around and hatched right before him.

**(The next day…)**

Dai and Syrus were staring at the new digimon in awe as he sat at the table with Chumley.

Jaden was smiling at them, Renamon and V-Mon returned from their short vacation and the two were speaking to the new digimon.

"So…Chumley's a Digidestind now too?" Syrus asked disappointed.

He wanted to be one too.

He was sort of jealous of the love and friendship that was shared between the duos of Darkness, Miracles and Justice and it looked like Chumley's partner was just as attached to him.

"Yeah, this guy in a robe was outside our dorm last night and gave me a digi egg that hatched into Bearmon." Chumley explained.

The small bear cub who wore a blue baseball cap smiled sweetly at everyone as he clung to Chumley's leg, a bit shy at the attention.

"Hello everyone. It's nice to meet you." Bearmon greeted.

"Chum, can I see you're Crest?" Dai asked.

The black haired boy nodded as he pulled the Tag and Crest off of his neck and handed it over to the girl, who looked it over.

As she touched it, she then realized what Virtue Chumley held.

"Passion." She said with a smile.

"What passion?" V-Mon asked.

"Chumley is the child of Passion." Renamon said.

"Isn't that kind of sappy?" Syrus asked.

"Passion isn't always linked to romance, Sy." Dai said as she handed the Crest back to Chumley, who put it back on.

"Passion is what drives you to work hard every day to obtain a goal. It's what keeps you alive. If there was no passion, then we would truly be numb inside." The fox explained.

"Sounds like you've got a pretty special Crest there, pal." Jaden said with a smile.

"Yeah, I just hope this works as my lucky charm for my duel today." The black haired boy said.

Bearmon tugged on Chumley's jacket making him look down into those kind blue eyes.

"I'll be right there with you cheering you on, Chumley. That's what friends are for." He said.

Chumley smiled as he felt grateful for having his new partner with him.

The group then joined up with Bastion, Kotemon, Chazz and Alexis and the others were surprised by the new digimon, so they explained what had happened.

After that was done, they met up with Crowler in the arena, where the man yelped at the sight of the bear, then fainted when he heard it was a digimon.

Kotemon ticked that off on the 'list of times they made Crowler faint'.

Ranamon the appeared and sprayed water on Crowler, waking the man up as the students took their seats in the stands to start the duel off, Bearmon standing next to Chumley so that he could show his support.

"Let's go, Chumley! We're with you." Jaden called.

"You can beat him!" Dai called.

"Jaden, Dai, aren't you worried for Chumley?" Syrus asked.

"No way. All last night, we stayed up and trained for this match. You know, after he told me about Gennai giving him his digi egg, Crest and digivice and I brought Renamon and V-Mon back here." Jaden said with a smile.

"Hey, we're all rotting for you, Chumley." Alexis called with a big smile on her face.

"We are? I mean, yeah. We so totally are." Chazz said.

"Don't be nervous. This duel will simply effect the rest of your life." Crowler said.

"Uh, OK." Chumley said nervously.

"Well, are you waiting for an invitation?" Crowler asked as he readied his duel disk.

"I've got one right here." The child of Passion said as he readied his own duel disk.

The duel then began, everyone being anticipated by it.

Bearmon looked really scared for his partner, but was relieved when Chumley came back in with more confidence and power, making the duo of Miracles cheer.

Everyone was smiling when Chumley took out Ancient Gear Golem.

Sheppard also came in, surprising everyone at his sudden appearance.

Crowler had used his Ancient Gear Factory to bring back his Golem, making Dai bang her head on the seat in front of her.

The group all cheered their friend on, giving him all of the support he needed and his Crest soon started to glow.

He was having fun in this duel for once in a long time, Bearmon digivolving into Grizzlymon.

Chumley thought back to the time he had failed his second exam and he was in Australia about to through his deck away, but stopped when he saw the most beautiful sunset ever and realized that he shouldn't give up.

He then played the card he had made, Ayers Rock Sunrise and it gave him a major advantage in the duel as he summoned the Master of Oz.

Sadly, Crowler still beat Chumley and he had tears streaming down his face, Grizzlymon growling in a comforting way to sooth him.

Everyone then started clapping for their friend, amazed by how the child of Passion had done.

"Hey, that was your best duel ever. Nice work, Chumley." Jaden said as he did his signature pose.

"Yeah, way to play. Really it was awesome. Right guys?" Syrus asked.

"Bravo." Bastion said.

"Amazing." Kotemon said.

"Not too shabby I guess." Chazz said.

"That's our boy." Dai cheered.

"But I-I still lost. I can't get my dream job." Chumley whimpered as Grizzlymon licked away his tears.

"Stop that crying." Crowler said as he approached them.

"It's true, you have lost this duel, but losing doesn't always mean failing." He said.

"Uh, what do you mean?" Chumley asked.

"Uh, what does he mean?" Jaden asked.

"You see, the duel was not win or lose but to approve your ability. For the talent you displayed today, how could I ever fail you? I will recommend you for the position at Industrial Illusions." Crowler smiled.

"So I'm not getting kicked out?" Chumley asked.

Crowler held out his hand.

"You're graduated." The man said.

The newly graduated Slifer accepted the hand.

"Farewell and congratulations, Chumley." Crowler said.

"He's going. I don't know how I should feel." Syrus said with watery eyes.

"Look, Chumley gets to follow his dream. Let's not be sad. We should be all parties and hugs." Jaden said.

"Just because your friends are apart, it doesn't mean the bond you've formed will be broken." Dai said.

"No, they will only grow." Renamon said.

"And we can always open up a portal to go and see him if we want. Nothing will change." V-Mon smiled.

The sound of blubbering made the duos of Darkness and Miracles turn to see Sheppard had tears falling down his face.

Everyone then laughed happily at the great moment.

**(Later…)**

Dai, Jaden, Chazz, Syrus, Alexis, Bastion, Kotemon, V-Mon and Renamon all stood at the cliff as they watched the air plane take off into the sky.

Bearmon and Chumley were inside of it going off to the Huffington home to deliver the good news and then head off to Duellist Kingdom to meet up with Pegasus.

"Chumley, good luck." Jaden smiled.

Up in the air plane, Chumley was looking down out the window.

"Goodbye everyone. Jaden, Sy and Dai." He then wiped at his eyes as Dez Koala and Bearmon smiled at him.

"I'll be back." The child of Passion swore.

"And we'll all have a great big party." Bearmon smiled as Dez nodded.

Chumley smiled at his partners, happy to have them with him as he goes off on his new adventure.

To be continued…


	48. Loyalty: Syrus' time and Zane's choice

Dai, Jaden and Bastion were in the Digital World with their partners and Syrus, showing the amazed bluenette the birth place of digimon; Primary Village.

The babies all jumped around them, cheering and begging them to play with them.

A group of Gabumon that used to be Punimon were dragging Dai and V-Mon off to go play a game of soccer while a group of Tanemon were talking rapidly to Jaden and Renamon.

Bastion was blushing a bit as a Pagumon was sticking to his head with a happy smile while a Kapurimon was talking eagerly to Kotemon.

Syrus was smiling at all of the digimon around the beautiful and color viallge, happy that he was an ordinary human that got to see this world before Alexis, Atticus, Chazz or even Zane got to.

Chumley hasn't even seen the Digital World yet.

The bluentte was sad that his friends that were with him were all being dragged off by some of the digimon here, but they were far too adorable to ignore, so he forgave them.

Syrus walked around the area around him, laughing as he saw the caretaker Electmon playing with a Poyomon and Pagumon.

Suddenly, he felt this comforting aura that seemed to be calling out to him.

His silver eyes looked over in the direction it was coming from and he walked off towards it.

"Guys, where's Syrus?" V-Mon asked.

"He walked off that way." Kotemon said pointing to the blur of blue.

"Syrus! Where are ya going?" Jaden called.

The boy didn't stop as he continued walking on.

"Ah, I see what this is." Electmon said as he walked over with a smile.

The Digidestinds looked at him in curiosity, then off to where their friend was heading.

Meanwhile, Syrus had made it to the part of the village where the digi eggs were in these stone cradles that had a pillow for the eggs to rest on.

Others even had Fresh level digimon sleeping in them or were wide awake and cooing at the sight of the human boy.

"OK, where is that coming from?" Syrus asked as he kept following the aura.

"I'm over here." A cutesy voice called in his mind.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Just listen." The voice said.

It was male, but it was also that of a small child's.

Syrus frowned a bit as he followed the sound of the voice and found the source of it being a white egg with two tiny gold wings on the front.

"A talking egg?" he asked as he kneeled down.

He reached his hands out to touch the egg and felt the warmth of the baby inside and the pulse of a heartbeat.

Suddenly, the egg glowed as two orbs appeared and became a digivice and Tag with a white Crest inside of it.

It had what looked like a club inside of an upside down triangle mark on the front of the Crest.

"This is…this can't mean that…" Syrus trailed off as he held the device and pendant.

The others made it over to see as Syrus placed the Crest on around his neck, then reached out to the egg as it hatched right in front of him.

Out of the egg popped a small white digimon that had tiny gold wings, gold eyes and tiny pink claws.

"Hiya!" the cute little In-Training chirped as he jumped into the blue haired boy's chest.

"It's a Cupimon." V-Mon gasped.

"A what now?" Jaden asked.

"Cupimon is an In-Training Celestial digimon. His special attack is Angel Ring which is made of golden light that he throws.

He is mainly a sweet, kind and caring little digimon that spreads love and joy over the land." Renamon explained.

"A Celestial digimon? Interesting." Bastion said.

"But what Crest did Syrus get?" Kotemon asked.

Dai walked over to the bewildered boy as he was getting hugged by Cupimon.

She reached out and touched the Crest around Syrus' neck and smiled as she realized what it was.

"What is it, Dai?" he asked curious.

Deep down, he hoped that the Crest he had gotten was a very good one.

The girl laughed as she ruffled her shorter friend's hair.

"Loyalty. That is the Virtue you're the keeper of now." Dai said as she stood up.

"Wow, loyalty. That's a great one." V-Mon said.

"And it suits you perfectly, Sy." Bastion smiled.

Syrus blushed under the praise and smiles he was getting by everyone, even the digimon that were in the village.

"If that's true, then I trust you to take great care of Cupimon." Electmon said.

"Right, I promise." The new child of Loyalty swore.

The group then went back to Duel Academy so Syrus could show off his new digimon to their friends, Jasmine and Mindy being with Alexis when they had found the Obelisk Queen.

The red head and black haired girl both squealed at the sight of the cute angel and nearly trampled Syrus to hug him.

After that, Syrus went to visit his brother and Atticus, both surprised by the news while Dai was with them and talking to Izzy on her D-terminal to tell them about the new Digidestind at Duel Academy and the newly born digimon.

"_Is it just me or does that guy seem familiar?"_ Agunimon asked as he and Lobomon stood be watching Cupimon.

The Warrior of Light narrowed his eyes as he sensed this familiar aura coming off of the angel, but it was different…purified.

Was this digimon really-?

"_I don't know."_ Lobomon said.

"AAAHHHH!" Syrus then yelled making everyone jump.

"Syrus, what's wrong?" Zane asked running to his brother's side.

"I gotta go." Dai said hanging up on Izzy, making the child of Knowledge gap at his black screen with an insulted look.

"What's the drama?" Atticus asked as he saw the short boy was staring at the wall where the two Warriors were speaking, unseen by the normal humans.

Cupimon sat on his partner's head with a worried look, then looked up at where the bluenette was staring and smiled.

"Hiya!" he chirped.

V-Mon looked over at Lobomon and Agunimon, then snickered as he realized what had made the boy freak.

"It looks like Sy can see the Warriors now." He said.

"What? You mean Dai's Legendary Warriors?" Zane asked.

"Yeah, they're standing right there. They look all see through like ghosts. Is this what you see all of the time?" Syrus asked as he turned to Dai.

"Pretty much, except for when I'm in my mind speaking to them." She said with a chuckle.

Atticus chuckled at that as he looked at the wall where the Warriors were, but wasn't able to see them.

He was wishing he could see the protectors of his surrogate sister, but sadly he couldn't.

"I wish you wouldn't react like that. I thought something bad had happened." Zane scolded his brother.

"Sorry, but I couldn't help it. I've gotten used to seeing new, strange things that pop up out of nowhere attacking me." Syrus said.

"_Hey. For the record, we're waaaay better looking than those Shadow Freaks."_ Agunimon said with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah. You guys are totally gorgeous." Dai said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"_I know, right?"_ the Warrior of Flame said as he flexed his right arm, the muscles bulging under the red armour.

Lobomon rolled his eyes and sighed in aggravation while Dai, V-Mon and Cupimon laughed.

"_Oh, get over yourself."_ Lobomon said.

"_What? It's true. What's wrong with flaunting it?"_ Agunimon asked.

"Are they like this all of the time?" Syrus asked.

"They're funny." Cupimon giggled.

Dai sighed as she walked over to her two main Warriors and gripped them by either their metal wolf ear to horn, the touch making them appear visible to Atticus and Zane for a split second.

"Knock it off you two." The child of Miracles said.

"_She takes after you."_ Agunimon said as he rubbed at his abused horn.

The two Warriors faded away to go rest in their cards.

"It's getting late. We should get back before we miss supper." V-Mon smiled.

"Yay, I'm hungry. Come on, Sy. Let's go." Cupimon said as he took his partner's hands and started pulling him out the door.

"Whoa, hey! How can a little guy be so strong?" Syrus yelped as he was dragged off.

"I should go. Izzy's gonna have words to say at me for hanging up on him like that. See ya, Kaiser. Atty." Dai said as she gave the two older boys a wave as she walked out with V-Mon.

"Bye-bye!" Atticus called as he waved.

Once the duos of Loyalty and Miracles were gone and the door was closed, the brunette turned to the dark teal haired male standing with an impassive look on his face.

"So, your graduation duel is coming up soon, Zane." Atticus said

The Kaiser turned to his window, looking out it as the sun was setting and his brother was being walked back to the Slifer dorm with his leader.

When Syrus became a Digidestind, he became a member of Dai's team; therefore she had also become his leader.

"You're point being, Atticus?" Zane asked as he watched them

The other male smiled knowingly as he leaned against the dresser in his best friend's room.

"I know you for years. I know that you want the strongest duellist to go up against and according to Kagemaru, there are two. Jaden and my sweet little dragon." Atticus said.

"Do you always have to beat around the bush for a more dramatic effect? Why can't you just come out and say what you mean like a normal person?" Zane asked with a slight anger tick on his forehead.

"All right, tough guy. My question is; which one are you going to request be your final duel? Jaden or Dai?" Atticus asked.

Zane kept quiet as he continued looking out the window enjoying the sight of the sunset and the colors in the sky, but wished he was at the lighthouse to see it better.

Atticus' question was only on his mind and it made him think long and hard on it.

Which one should he choose to duel?

The Slifer King/child of Darkness/son of Seto Kaiba, Jaden?

Or the Slifer Queen/child of Courage, friendship and Miracles/daughter of Yugi Muto, Dai?

"I'm really not sure." He said.

"Either one will give you a run for your money and I'd love to see you go up against both of them." Atticus said.

The Kaiser sighed as he looked off to his friend and then over to where his deck was.

Which one should he choose?

To be continued…


	49. The final duel

"AAHHH!"

That sound came from the Slifer dorm, startling many of the students living there.

"Sorry, you, uh, just kind of scared me there, big bro." Syrus said.

Zane had shown up at Jaden and Syrus' room where Dai was also hanging out with them, the three digimon talking.

"Zane always scares you, Sy. So…what's up?" Jaden asked.

"You know, in my three years at the academy, I've not once set foot in this here dorm. It's nice that I finally found a reason to come out here." Zane said as he glanced around the room with a small smile.

"Reason? What, like invite us out to lunch or take us to one of your hot shot Obelisk Blue functions?" Jaden asked.

Zane crossed his arms as his gaze settled over to the silent girl in sitting on the bed.

"To duel Dai." He said.

The children of Darkness and Loyalty fell back in shock while the child of Miracles gave him a stunned look.

"Sorry, but I thought you said 'duel'." Syrus said.

"Yes I did." Zane said.

Dai got up off of the bed and walked over to the Kaiser as her cousin and friend got up and V-Mon, Cupimon and Renamon watched this curiously.

"To duel you, Dai. I've decided I want you to join me in the grad match." Zane said.

"Say what now?!" she gasped.

"The grad match?! That's the biggest duel of the year!" Syrus yelped.

"That's right. Till then." Zane said as he patted Dai's head, then walked off out of the room.

"Oh and I like the dorm, by the way. It's a good fit for you kids." He said as he closed the door behind him.

Everyone was silent for a minute as they took in this new information.

"Wow, the grad match. Oh boy, this is so sweet. You're so lucky, Dai-kun." Jaden said as he hugged his cousin from behind.

"Yeah, but think of it!" Syrus yelled getting into the two cousins' faces.

"Come on, Jaden. This is Zane we're talking about here. He's the strongest duellist here and Dai's gonna be dueling him in front of the entire school. If she doesn't win this, then she'll be stuck in his shadow forever!" Syrus yelled.

V-Mon sighed as Cupimon flew over and landed on his partner's head, tugging at his hair.

"Calm down, Sy. I'm sure Dai will win." The Celestial chirped.

"You must have more faith in her." Renamon said.

Dai pulled away from the group and looked out the window as she watched Zane still walking off to his dorm, his form very small as it continued to go.

She sighed as she pulled out her deck and looked her Warriors over, each giving her a smile and nod for encouragement.

A smile curved her lips as she felt her Crest vibrate with a comforting warmth.

"Dai?" Syrus asked.

The leader of the Digidestinds turned to him with a look filled with courage and determination.

"If Zane wants a duel, I'll give him one. I'm not gonna go easy on him. I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve that I haven't used." She said.

Jaden, Renamon and V-Mon all smiled at this knowing she was going to make the Kaiser wish he hadn't chosen her for the match up.

Syrus whined as he hung his head.

Why did Dai have to be like that?

"But Zane has never lost. Sure, there was Camula, but he lost on purpose for me. Other than that, he's undefeated. Look, Dai, it's not that I don't believe in you…I just don't want to see my big sis get hurt. Oh man. This is all just coming out wrong. What can I say?" Syrus whimpered as he ducked his head down.

Dai smiled gently at him as she kneeled down and pulled him into a hug and kissed the top of his head.

He blushed at that as she pulled away.

"I understand that you're worried and it's really sweet of you, Sy, but I'm a big girl. I can handle losing a duel. It's not like I'm gonna keep a grudge about this. What kind of loser holds a petty grudge over being beaten in a duel by someone?" Dai asked.

**(At Kaiba Corp…)**

Seto was working on typing out a report when his nose then twitched and he sneezed.

**(At Duel Academy Island…)**

"I'll be fine, so stop worrying." Dai said as she stood up.

Syrus looked deep into her eyes and saw that she was being honest and sighed.

"Well, all right. But you should still practise in case." He said.

And so, that entire night the three practised their duels, Syrus getting beaten in only three turns by Dai while it took Jaden six turns to get beaten by his cousin.

All in all, she was not going easy on them and would finish the duel as soon as she could and would be fierce like she was when dealing with Duke, Michael, Harrington and Camula.

After Dai went to bed, Jaden stayed up later making some phone calls.

This was the biggest duel in her life and he wanted to make sure the most important people in her life were there to see it.

Lobomon and Agunimon stayed up watching over their Master as she slept cuddled up with V-Mon.

**(The next day…)**

The duel arena was filled with all of the students at the school, everyone excited to see an Obelisk third year go up against a Slifer first year.

Zane and Dai walked into the arena together as the crowd all cheered for them.

They went up to their sides of the arena and stood there staring at each other as they waited for the match to begin.

"I guess this is it." Dai said.

"Yeah." Zane said.

"Just a question, though. Why choose me? You did promise Jaden a rematch after all." She said.

"Jaden's dueled constantly since he's been here. I've hardly seen what you can do. I've only seen you duel twice while the others have seen your true power." He answered.

"That's it?" she asked.

Her D-3 started beeping, confusing her.

She then looked up at the stands where Jaden, Alexis, Syrus, Atticus, Bastion and Chazz were sitting with their digimon.

Dai gasped as she saw Tai, Matt, Izzy, Willis, Kari, TK, Yolei, Cody, Sora, Mimi, Michael, Ken, Joe, Tristan, Ryou, Duke, Joey, Yugi, Mokuba, Serenity and the Digidestinds digimon were all in the stands watching her.

They were all cheering her on and she smiled happily at the sight, V-Mon sitting on her mother's lap as he, Gatomon, Wormmon, Terriermon, Patamon and Lopmon all waved these red pompoms around.

Zane noticed what she was looking at and shook his head in amusement.

"You really know how to draw in a crowd." He said.

"Yeah and I'm gonna make sure they enjoy the show." Dai said.

They both readied their duel disks and set their decks inside as they prepared for the duel.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, we commence with the grad match between Zane Truesdale and Daisuke Motomiya!" Crowler called.

"Enough small talk." Zane said.

"It is getting boring." Dai said.

"Let's do this!" they said.

"You might as well go first. I'd like to see if you could summon something other than your dragon." She said.

"Very well then. Here goes. I activate the spell card Polmerization. Now by sending some select monsters from my hand to the grave, I can summon a fusion monster. I'll send the three Cyber Dragons in my hand to the Graveyard so I can summon the Cyber End Dragon!" Zane said.

The large three headed dragon appeared, Dai's eyes wide in fright and awe of the beast before her.

"Is that all or do you plan on making me suffer some more?" she asked.

Zane smirked at that.

"As a matter of fact, yes there is. Different Dimension Capsule. Now, Dai, I select one card in my deck and remove it from play. But then in two turns, it returns to my hand. Finally, I'll place one card face down and end my turn.

Dai bit her lip as she thought back to Jaden's first duel with the Kaiser.

One of the cards in the capsule must be either De-Fusion or Powerbond or it could be the Face Down.

"Dai, go on. It's your move now." Zane said.

"All right then. First of all, I'll play Zephyr Sweep to destroy your Face Down!" she said.

It was the De-Fusion card after all.

"Next, this card here was given to me by my best friend. This'll be a big surprise for you. I play Cyber Dragon!" Dai called.

The entire crowd gasped, Zane's eyes widened in shock.

Ken smiled at that as he remembered the day he first gave her that card.

"You gave her that card?" Kari asked him.

"I didn't know you liked this game." TK said.

"I wanted to join this school next year, but I have a feeling Dai-kun's banning us for ever coming back here after what happened to her and her friends this year." Ken said.

"Cyber Dragon? What could you do with that?" Zane asked.

"Simple. I'll sacrifice him to bring out my Warrior of Metal; Mercurymon!" Dai said.

She sent a smile apologetic smile to the Cyber Dragon, who nodded in understanding before he was sent away and the new monster appeared in his place.

"So this is another one of your Warriors." Zane said.

"Mercurymon here get's an extra 200 ATK points due to the fact that there is a machine type monster out on the field. But since your Cyber End Dragon used to be three dragons, that changes to 600 more ATK points." Dai said.

Mercurymon sighed as his ATK went from 2000 to 2600.

"Now I'll just place a Face Down to end it." Dai said as she ended her turn.

"That's it? I expected more from you. Cyber End Dragon, attack!" Znae called.

The dragon then sent out his blasts at the Warrior and he was hit in his mirror.

"That's the end of it." Zane said.

The dust cleared to show that Mercurymon was still standing.

"How is that possible?" Zane asked.

"Mercurymon's mirrors absorb the attacks sent at him and he can re-direct that same attack right back at you. It won't destroy your dragon, but it will take out your Life Points." Dai said.

Mercurymon's mirror glowed as the attack the three headed dragon sent was blown right back at Zane, cutting off his Life Points.

"Smart move." He said.

"Well, it's gonna have to end. I sacrifice Mercurymon so I can summon Agunimon to the field in DEF Mode and end my turn." Dai said as her Warrior of Flame arrived.

"Very well. Now, the card that was placed in my capsule returns to my hand and it's Card from a Different Dimension!" Zane said.

Dai gasped as she realized that she was wrong.

She had assumed that it was Powerbond.

Maybe this card was the one he was using to get Powerbond into his hand.

"Due to this, we now both get to draw two cards from our decks to our hand." Zane said.

The two did as they were supposed to.

"All right, Cyber End Dragon wage a direct attack!" Zane said.

The blast was going right towards Agunimon, but Dai was quick to activate her Face Down.

"This is Warrior's Shield. It protects Agunimon from the attack, but sadly I still lose 500 of my Life Points." Dai said.

The Warrior of Flame smiled at his master for making the sacrifice for him and she returned it.

"I'll play a card Face Down and end my turn." Zane said.

Dai looked down at the cards she had drawn thanks to Zane's card and smiled when she realized what she had gotten.

She started laughing right then shocking most of the people in the stands.

"What?" Zane asked with narrowed eyes.

"You're done for." She said.

"First, I'll switch Agunimon to ATK Mode then I'll play the Magic card Unified Spirit Evolution! It takes all for the Warriors in my deck and it combines their power to Agunimon." She said.

"She can do what?" Syrus asked.

"Yes! This duel is done!" Jaden cheered.

"That's my baby!" Joey cheered.

"And our kohai." Tai smiled as he and Matt high fived.

The digimon were jumping around cheering loudly as they waved their pompoms around.

Light, sparks, water, wind, leaves, ice and flames surrounded Agunimon as he began to transform into his new, more powerful for.

The force of the transformation was making everyone hang onto their seats to keep from being blown away while Zane braced himself as he knelt down so the winds wouldn't blow him back.

He looked over to see that Dai was standing in the center of the storm with a look of confidence on her face as she was perfectly safe from the raging elements.

"Say hello to…EMPERORGREYMON!" she called.

The storm ended in an explosion, some students getting blown back a few feet from it.

The new monster stood there as he radiated pure power, looking just as determined and courageous as his Master.

"8000 ATK Points?!" Zane asked.

"Yep and this means it's the end of you. This was a pretty awesome duel, though, Kaiser. We should do it again some time." Dai smiled kindly.

Zane returned it.

"This is how I wanted to end my year. Dueling one of the strongest duellists. You know, when you beat me, that officially makes you the number one best duellist at the school." Hhe said.

"Then I better not disappoint anyone. Now, EmperorGreymon, use Dragon Fire Crossbow!" she called.

EmperorGreymon pulled the sword off of his back and stabbed it into the ground.

Lines of flames shot out around him, then rose into a swarm of dragon heads that all charged forward at Zane, destroying his Cyber End Dragon and taking out the rest of his Life Points.

He fell to the ground after the attack subsided, his Life Points reaching 0 at a fast speed.

EmperorGreymon turned to Dai and smiled at her, his blue eyes twinkling in amusement.

She laughed and stuck her tongue out playfully at him.

"_Am I awesome or am I awesome?"_ the Warrior asked in a more mature sounding voice than usual.

"Yeah, yeah. You're the baddest, hottest thing around." The child of Miracles said.

"_And don't forget it."_ he said as he faded away.

Dai then looked off to where Zane was and saw that he was still on his back and her eyes filled with worry.

"Zane!" She called running over to him.

She knelt down next to him and pulled his top half up against her chest and held his right wrist to check for a pulse and was relived to feel one.

"Come on, Kaiser. Wake up." She said gently shaking him.

His lips twitched as he then started laughing.

She was stunned by this as he finally started acting his age instead of being the cool, calm and collected guy that everyone fears.

Dai sighed in relief again that he was fine, but she was then annoyed that he had worried her like that.

"That isn't funny, you jerk. I thought you were really hurt." She scolded as V-Mon ran over to her.

Steel eyes met chocolate.

"Sorry, but I was taking my time to bask in the glow. I've never had that much fun in a duel before. Thanks for making my last year here memorable. I'm going to miss you, Dai." Zane said sincerely.

The Slifer Queen laughed at that as she hugged her friend as V-Mon watched with a smile.

Up in the stands, Matt and Tai was bubbling over in fury as their protective streaks for their kohai grew.

"If that guy doesn't let her go soon, I swear…" the child of Courage growled as his fists clenched.

"Atticus, I told you to keep the guys away from her!" the child of Friendship yelled at the long haired brunette.

"Ah, come on. Zane's not interested in Dai…at least, I think he's not." Atticus said as he looked down at the two hugging duellists.

"For your sake you better hope so." TK said.

"Yeah, Tai and Matt really go overboard when it comes to guys flirting with Dai. Why do you think she's still single and never had a boyfriend?" Yolei asked.

"Well, Dai. You're officially the best duelist in the entire school. Despite your grades and rank." Zane said as the two then stood up.

"Yeah, I always thought Jaden would be the best duellist in the school. Kind of ironic, don't cha think?" Dai asked as she scratched the back of her head with her tongue poking between her lips playfully.

Her dragon then jumped up on her back, staying there with a wide smile.

"You're officially the Queen." He said.

"Makes sense since I have a Royal Knight here with me." She said as she kissed her dragon on the cheek.

The entire crowd then started clapping for the Queen of Duel Academy Island, Dai blushing as Jaden ran over and picked her up in a spin hug.

All of the other Digidestinds were also running over to the girl, each taking turns in hugging Dai and kissing her cheeks or head.

"You were great out there." Joe said with Gomamon hanging onto his shoulders.

"Yeah, cool." The seal said.

"There are plenty of other monsters in your deck that we don't even know about. This is going to make dueling you even harder, but I rise to the challenge." Bastion said.

Matt and Tai then showed up on either side of their kohai and kissied her cheeks, then sent frightening glares over to Zane.

"What's their problem?" zane asked as Syrus stepped up beside him with Cupimon on his head.

"Sorry about them." Ken said as he came up to him as Wormmon threw himself into Dai's arms.

"Dai-kun's an only child, so Tai and Matt have taken it upon themselves to step in and act as her older siblings. They tend to overdo it though." The child of Kindness said.

"No kidding." Syrus said.

The three then looked off at Dai as she hugged her friends, human and digimon, V-Mon on her back as Wormmon was on her head.

Yugi, who was wearing a hat to cover his hair, and Joey walked over to the group.

They all parted like the red sea for them and the other adults, allowing them to make their way to Dai.

"You were great out there." Joey said as she kissed her daughter's head.

"Yeah, you're just as good as your dad." Tristan said.

"I told ya, she could give you a run for your money, Yug'." Duke said.

"It was a spectacular event. Congratulations." Ryou said.

"Enough with the compliments already! You people are smothering me." Dai whined as her face burned dark red.

"Fine then. Let's talk about a different topic." Tentomon said.

"Like what's been happening here that was so dangerous?" Izzy asked.

Jaden, Renamon, V-Mon and Dai all looked at each other as they were put on trial by their fellow Digidestinds as the newly Chosen stood behind their Slifer King and Queen.

_So that ends my first year at Duel Academy Island._

_I think the next question here is will I want to go back to that place if there are any more freaks that will try to take over the world?_

…_.Yeah, I probably will._

_After all, Gennai told me about the prophecy and it's even longer now._

'_Darkness will reign supreme for the King and Knight. End the terror of the evil Light.'_

_Weird, right?_

_Anyway, I'm going home now that the year is done._

_My new friends at D.A.I. have decided to keep in touch with each other and we will._

_In fact, Jaden and I are even going to visit Duelist Kingdom to go see how Chumley and Bearmon are doing._

_Thanks for hanging around for an awesome year._

_See ya around!_

The end.


	50. Bonus Chapter: The official end!

Dai was at home washing up the dishes that she and Chibimon ate on for lunch when Joey walked into the room, smiling at the sight of her daughter back home after the rough year she had at Duel Academy Island with the Shadow Games and new Digidestinds.

Not to mention the yelling at she had gotten from her friends when she told them all about the dangers she had gone through and not told them about it.

"Hey, Dai. Can I talk to ya for a sec?" the blonde asked making her daughter turn to her.

"Yeah, sure, Mom." Dai said drying off her hands and walked over to Joey.

Chibimon continued with washing up the dishes while the two female duellists walked off into the living room to chat.

Joey sat down on the couch, patting the seat beside her to show that her daughter should sit next to her.

Dai did as she was motioned to do and gave her mother a curious look.

"What's up?" Dai asked.

"So, I was wondering if ya were goin' back to D.A.I. next year with Chibi and Vixie." Joey said.

"Actually, no. Jaden, Bastion, Syrus and I decided to leave our digimon in the Digital World so that Kotemon and Cupimon can get used to it. Besides, if we need them, all we have to do is open up a portal. We're also hoping nothing bad will happen this year." The mahogany haired girl sighed as she leaned back into her seat.

Joey hummed in thought as she pulled out her own deck from the good old days and started shuffling through it.

Memories of all of the battles she had gone through and all of the times she had lost her soul or been controlled by evil flitted across her mind.

She never thought her daughter would follow in her footsteps, but she seemed to be doing a better job at keeping her body and mind safe from evil.

"Do you remember when your dad first taught ya about Duel Monsters?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, he told me all about the Heart of the Cards and you gave me your deck to practise with when he started teaching me. I was about 4-5 at the time. Jaden did a better job than me though." Dai said as she smiled fondly at the memory.

"At that time, you talked about being able to talk to one of my monsters. I would-a thought ya were crazy if me, Yugi, Tristan and the others hadn't gone through all that Shadow Games and saving the world stuff. Jaden could also do that too." Joey said as she pulled out a card.

Her daughter gave her a curious look when all of a sudden a cooing noise made her look around the room.

The card her mother was holding then had a small orange head with horns on it pop out of the card and blinked it's pretty blue eyes at her.

"Baby Dragon!" Dai exclaimed.

The orange dragon gave a happy smile as he came fully out of the card and bounced over to his Master's daughter who used to play with him when she was younger.

He was upset when she stopped playing with him, and had seemed to forgotten all about him, but now she was back and they could play as much as they wanted now.

"Oh, it's been a while, huh?" Dai said as she hugged the orange dragon and kissed his little head.

"I was thinkin'." Joey said as Chibimon came into the room.

"Since I can't play with Baby Dragon anymore, how about you take him? He needs someone who can spare the time for him." She said handing over the Time Wizard card as well.

"Mom, I don't know. I mean, I already have a dragon for a partner and I love him more than anything. I don't know how he'd feel if another dragon came into the picture." Dai said making Baby Dragon sulk.

Smiling at this, Chibimon scampered over and climbed up onto the couch, making the two duellists look at him.

"I don't mind sharing you, Dai. After all, I have to with the Warriors and to be fair, Baby Dragon knew ya first. Us dragons are very loyal and trustworthy, so I know he won't steal ya from me and will take care of you when I'm gone." Chibimon said.

Baby Dragon chirped happily as he swooped down and hugged the blue dragon, feeling thankful that Chibimon was being so kind.

"You're awesome, Chibi. I love you." Dai said as she hugged her partner.

Joey laughed as she hugged her daughter, Baby Dragon placing a kiss on his former Master's cheek.

This loving scene is what Yugi walked in on after he was done with a meeting he had with Seto about some new duel disk designs being used for one of the many tournaments that were going to be held next year.

He raised one eyebrow at the sight of the two dragons and females hugging, then just took off his jacket and shoes, folding the jacket and placed it on the counter before he walked over to see what he had missed.

"So…is this a good thing or a bad thing?" Yugi asked.

The group laughed as they pulled away, Dai throwing herself into her father's arms as he chuckled and hugged her back.

"Baby Dragon and Time Wizard are being added to my deck. Not sure how that's going to work, but I bet it'll trip up my opponents." The child of Miracles said.

"Oh, so we're adding cards into your deck? Why didn't you say so? I could give you some cards for your deck too, ya know." The tricolored male said as he began to reach for his own deck that he kept in his holder on his belt, but his daughter took his hand to stop him.

"Oh, come on. Baby Dragon and Time Wizard are enough. You don't have to add any more in my deck." His daughter said as she stood up and placed her two new cards in her deck, hoping her Warriors would treat them kindly.

"If you say so." Yugi said.

"Just know that if you ever do want to use any of my cards, then all you need to do is ask." He said.

"Thanks, but I'm confident with my Warriors. They are what made me the Queen of my school." Dai said as her Warriors all appeared around her.

Joey sat back with a smile as she saw that everyone was right.

Her daughter was like a younger version of herself.

All that was missing was the blonde hair and Brooklyn accent.

"You know what? We haven't had a family outing in a while. Why don't we all go to that new Italian place to eat tonight?" Joey asked.

"It sounds like a great idea to me." Yugi smiled.

"I'm up for it." Dai said.

"I could eat for an army." Chibimon said.

"We know." The mother, daughter and father said.

Everyone then laughed at that as they all went to get ready for their family night.

**Yeah, I've been wondering if I should skip season 2 or not since I don't have a lot planned for that season.**

**Not to mention season 4 was never dubbed and I can't find the English sub anywhere.**

**Not even on the channel I use, so I don't know if I'll be using season 2 and 4.**

**Anyway, when I make up my mind, you'll see when the next part of the series comes out.**

**Thanks everyone for all of your support and reviews, they really help me in my writing.**

**I hope to see you again for the next part.**

**With love, M.V.**


End file.
